Green's the new gold at Royal Ascot

Shortly after arriving at the race course for Tuesday’s Royal Ascot meeting, I found myself amidst an eclectic group of Lladro-meets-Vettriano-style statues that looked to be made of copper – or at least they were green … a colour that just happened to match my outfit. The new additions (click on pics to enlarge), created by much-lettered sculptors, are representations of ‘The Establishment and The Working Class’, so it was somewhat appropriate that I should be standing betwixt the Queen and Prince Philip. Curiously, it looks as if the Queen is without a hat.




I was on the lookout for gold clothing and accessories and spotted a wonderful old-school style gold horse brooch from Royal Ascot days of yore, worn by throroughly professional member of staff, Sheila (right), who certainly gets my gold star for helpfulness. I also spied these gladiatorial gold sandals under a table (left) … mmm, not so sure about those. And there were plenty of traditional gold waistcoated men (see below).



I noticed a lot of gold jewellery, but nothing quite as unique and original as the vintage Swoboda pendant from ShopCurious. I’m really surprised that this amazing bargain of a gold and semi-precious stone pendant (right) hasn’t been snapped up yet. Vintage jewellery can be a great investment as it's usually timeless and you can wear it year after year – and real gold pieces might appreciate significantly in value too.





‘Green’ hats are also sensible style – create your own, or invest in handmade works of millinery art by designer Sandra Bamminger, or Laura Wellington. Clever ladies tipped their hats to a hint of green. Isabell Kristensen, for instance, with her delicious looking strawberries and cream creation: New season’s fruit that looks just as fresh as the ever-youthful designer herself, pictured left with her beautiful daughter.


The most stylish ladies were distinctly natural and understated – but they said it all with their hats … and with one simple word: recycled. Those with style and brains know that recycling is ‘old hat’ – ie get out an old hat and spruce it up with some embellishment like a corsage, some foliage, unusual bits and pieces that will set you apart from the crowd. Vintage and homemade hats were the order of the day.

Alice (right) discovered she had left her hat in the car, which was driven away by a chauffeur. She quickly cobbled one together from a newspaper (inadvertently picking up on the fashion for gold coins) and some other bits of stuff - more of which were added as the day went on - making for a quirky, individual look. Good job it wasn’t windy.


The lovely doctor pictured left (married to dishy actor, Marcus Gilbert, who was sadly absent) told me she was a dab hand at sewing sutures, so she decided to handcraft her own Ascot hat. How curiously cool is that?

By the way, I’ve designed and decorated my own hat for later this week – details to follow shortly, plus the chance to win a rather natty summer hat.

Will you?