Royal Ascot: Stricter dress code in new style guide
Fascinators have fallen foul of the Royal Enclosure's dress code
Royal
Ascot's first ever style guide will land on racegoers' doormats this
week, clarifying the dress code for those who plan to attend.
In Ascot's Royal Enclosure, hats, not fascinators, will be mandatory as part of the stricter rules. Dress straps must be at least one inch in width, hem lengths should fall "just above the knee or longer" and bare midriffs are not allowed.
Ascot Racecourse said it would help with "confusion" over the dress code.
Head of communications Nick Smith said the traditions of the event dated back to the Edwardian era.
"The dress code for Royal Ascot is formal day dress, and not everybody knows what it is," he said.
"We have had a lot of issues in the past because people have been confused. We want to make it easier for people to understand what they should wear."
Mr Smith said the new style guides had been sent out due to feedback from racegoers.
People 'frustrated' "What frustrates people if they have made the effort to dress up with a nice new hat, and other people just haven't bothered. That's not in the spirit of the event," he said.
The Royal Enclosure is an exclusive area within the Royal Ascot racecourse, which people can only enter after being sponsored by existing badge holders who have attended for four previous years.
For men, a waistcoat and tie, black shoes and a black or grey top hat will be compulsory in the enclosure, and cravats will not be allowed.
The new style guides also specify men attending the event in the less formal grandstand will be required to wear a suit and tie, rather than just jackets and trousers.
Women watching from the grandstand will be required to wear a hat or fascinator - a cross between a hair accessory and a mini hat - at all times.
Emergency fascinators will be on sale at the gate for the first time for racegoers who turn up with uncovered heads.
In previous years, female racegoers not attending the Royal Enclosure were simply advised "many ladies wear hats".
All women must steer away from bare midriffs as well as strapless or sheer strap dresses and tops.
The annual week-long event in June attracts abo
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Beautiful, provocative, sexy - high heels may be all these
things and more, but even their most ardent fans wouldn't claim they
were practical. They're no good for hiking or driving. They get stuck in things. Women in heels are advised to stay off the grass - and also ice, cobbled streets and posh floors.
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Originally, they weren't.
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The Why Factor is broadcast on BBC World Service on Fridays at 19:30 GMT
"The high heel was worn for
centuries throughout the near east as a form of riding footwear," says
Elizabeth Semmelha
ck of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
Good horsemanship was essential to the fighting styles of Persia - the historical name for modern-day Iran."When the soldier stood up in his stirrups, the heel helped him to secure his stance so that he could shoot his bow and arrow more effectively," says Semmelhack.
At the end of the 16th Century, Persia's Shah Abbas I had the largest cavalry in the world. He was keen to forge links with rulers in Western Europe to help him defeat his great enemy, the Ottoman Empire.
A men's 17th Century Persian shoe, covered in shagreen - horse-hide with pressed mustard seeds
A wave of interest in all things Persian passed through Western Europe. Persian style shoes were enthusiastically adopted by aristocrats, who sought to give their appearance a virile, masculine edge that, it suddenly seemed, only heeled shoes could supply.
ut 300,000 visitors each year.
Natural fashion a Victorian passion
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A corded silk bonnet was just the thing to frame a face
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For fashionable ladies, the style owed much to the Victorian "obsession with the natural world", said Pat O'Donnell, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions.
"They were really into their flowers."
The costumes that make up the Pretty in Print exhibition are from a collection at the Ulster Museum.
The clothes are a rainbow of colours, from light brown caps to rose, gold and aquamarine dresses.
Ms O'Donnell said that it was remarkable the clothes had survived so long since outfits were often taken apart in the 1800s and reused to make new clothes.
According to Ms O'Donnell, where the costumes came from and who they belonged to is a mystery.
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Seaweed inspired this Victorian creation
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In picturesMs O'Donnell said that it would be hard to put a price tag on the dresses since many of them would had been made at home by the owners.
The velvet caps and satin shoes on display were worn by only a small section of society, but for society women, fashion was one of the main preoccupations of life.
Women in different parts of Europe and America sent each other letters describing their clothes.
"They swapped ideas and sent little samples of material to each other.
"They even would use little dolls and make miniature versions of costumes so they could send that," said Ms O'Donnell.
In addition to nearly a dozen dresses, the exhibition includes children's clothes and accessories such as a Russian painted leather bag and a gold cameo brooch.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni