What to wear to Royal Ascot Races? Tips and Outfit Ideas

• The Hatista
• Fashion Post
• March 12th 2018 / Updated: 8th March 2020

Once you have your tickets booked, start planning your outfit right there and then! The shops start stocking their racks with Summer Fashions from February, and online retailers have summer wear all year round, so start planning now. PLEASE, as a Milliner I ask you, “Don’t leave until end May to hectically throw something together and get made and delivered in time. The most important element of your Royal Ascot outfit is the Hat, and there is a high probability that your perfect Hat will need be handmade to order, with a few weeks very MINIMUM to be made." So, please make sure you plan ahead in time for production and delivery. The other great thing about doing this is that you allow the Milliner to make customizations for you, specific for your outfit. Almost all Milliners (not department stores) will work with you to make such customizations. Your Royal Ascot outfit can be fun and full of character, less matchy matchy than a Mother of the Bride or wedding guest outfit would be. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your colour accents, and build a punchy outfit you wouldn’t normally wear for a formal event.

Here are my style tips on how to pull together your perfect Royal Ascot Races outfits. Lot's of people that attend Royal Ascot and terrified their outfits won't meet the strict dress code. If you are worried about any of these outfits then don't be - I will NEVER recommend a Hat, Headpiece or dress in any of my Royal Ascot outfit posts that are not permitted in the Royal Enclosure or any of the other enclosures.

This post includes affiliate links - suggestions of items I've hunted out on the Internet for you. If you see anything you like, click the links and decide to buy the suggestion, then the retailer will give me a little commission (maybe even enough to buy a latte) to thank me.

Pick the Jawdropping Hat of Your Dreams First

Yes, I’m a Milliner, so you may think I’m bias! But honestly it’s so much easier to find a dress to go with an already chosen Hat, than to go out and find a hat for a chosen dress. There are zillions and zillions of dresses to choose from across Stores and the Internet but significantly less hats – The perfect Royal Ascot outfit is all about the Hat, so find the Hat of your dreams first, without being in the limitations of the dress, and you will be able to find a dress afterwards for sure – I promise.

Bold Sculptured Dresses and Bright Hues

One trend that has been taking over the catwalks for a few years are heavily sculptured dresses. We're not talking a few puff sleeves, a few origami folds or 80's shoulders, we are talking dresses that are futuristic, almost unwearable. For many occasions of course they are unwearable, because you can't show off at a wedding and upstage the bride, and you sure won't go to the office in one, but Royal Ascot is exactly the time to wear one, grab some attention, and show off.

Designers to look for include Ellery, Roksandar, Alexander McQueen, and Acler.

Monochromatic Black and White

You can nearly never fail to look great at the races in a Black and White Monochromatic outfit. This race day fashion classic colour palette always looks chic. Think My Fair Lady, or Vivien Ward (otherwise known as "Pretty Woman"). If you love all white dresses, then Royal Ascot is your chance to wear amazing white dresses that are a No-No for summer wedding guests.

Black and White works great on all skin tones, and body shapes, so there are always lots of outfits you can choose in this colour combo.

Choose the colour that sits closest to your hair, based on the colour of your hair. If you are blond, then a black base will contrast better. If you are dark haired then the opposite. If you are a red-head then either will contrast great.

Add Gold for added Sophistication to the Black and White

One of my favourite colourways, that has been seen a lot (most famously by Balmain, and copied by many) is black, white and gold. The can't possibly fail monochrome black and white is given the modern twist with the Metallic gold.

This outfit below looks far, far, far more expensive than it is, and is uber chic for a day at Royal Ascot. All the items are so perfect together and off the shelf - you don't even need get the Hat custom made to match this dress.

Let the Accessories Pop

One of the easiest ways to show off your amazing Royal Ascot hat, is to have it "Pop" from your outfit. Bright colours like Orange, Fuchsia or Yellow are happy colours, and allow you to show off your playful side. Being bright colours you don’t need much to give your outfit zest.

For a standout Racing Fashion look add these fun colours in the accessories only. Nothing says ‘sunshine state of mind’ better than a bright Royal Ascot Hat, against an otherwise tame dress.

Unexpected Colour Combinations

Don't what ever you do think you can ONLY WEAR MATCHY MATCHY outfits. Some of the best outfits I've seen for the races, are creative outfits that use unexpected colour combinations.

If you are putting your outfit together online, and unable to know for sure that colours are exact matches, then contrasting instead of matching is the best way ahead. This way you don't need stress about if the dress and hat will be an exact match when you receive them. Another great advantage of getting creative with colour combinations is that you greatly reduce the risk of finding someone else wearing the same outfit. There are high street retailers that will have a range of low priced headpieces, and fascinators on their shelves to match this seasons dresses, but if you go with those easy options, you will find sooooooo many people wearing the same outfit. This is fine of course if you are buying your outfit, just "fit for purpose", but if you want to win in the style stakes, then you'll need show more thought has been put into your outfit, and consequently drastically reduce the chances of meeting someone in your same outfit.

Unexpected but great colour combinations include Cobalt Blue with Orange, Royal Blue and Lime Green, Cerise Pink and Light Olive Green, Teal and Burnt Orange, Fuschia and Purple, Candy/Petal Pink and Dark Olive.

Nude and Nudes

When you have found the Nude Dress that contrasts with your skin tone for the season, then you can wear an outfit with the Hat, Bag, Dress and Shoes all in the Nudes, without looking Nude.

As with any one colour arrangement though if wearing a hat, follow the same rule. If the dress has a lot going on - lot's of print, cutwork, floral or lace detail, then keep the hat or headpiece simple and chic. If the dress has simple lines and colour, then you can let the hat sing with lot's of size, floral or feather details.

Bold Floral Prints / Lace - Bright or Pastels

You can’t go wrong with a sophisticated Floral Dress for a day at the races, matched with a complimenting hat, or headpiece that is of course an essential for your Royal Ascot outfits.

An 'A' Line or full circle skirt in a Bold Floral print is the perfect shape skirt for a day at the races. Look for prints that feature many shades, giving you a choice when looking for your accessories and hat to match.

Coral and Clean White

This won't be the first year you will see Coral at Royal Ascot, as it's a colour that's been in peoples wardrobes for about 10 years, and was last years Pantone color of the year 2019 in "Living Coral". Coral and White floral outfits are perfect for Royal Ascot. Coral is a pretty colour, but also bright. Wearing with lot's of white stops you looking like a bright flame walking around, while the high contrast on the clean white lets the pretty coral elements shine their best.

Wearing to much white for a Wedding guest outfit can sometimes feel inappropriate, but for the races, White is very on point and pairs with coral fantastically.

For lot's more ideas on wearing Coral, you could also read the How to Wear Coral blog post.

Two Trends, One Outfit

I love the fashion-forward combination of a futuristic metallic with on trend pastels (Mint, Baby Pink, Baby Blue or Lemon), for friends and family attending weddings, or a day at Royal Ascot Ladies Day.

The metallic trend is going nowhere fast, but no one wants to go over board with their metallics anymore than they do their pastels. Pastels and Metallics being so on trend currently, worn half and half is a marriage made in heaven.

Monochromatic Colour

I love the mixing hues of one colour, for a day at the races.

The pastels trend is going nowhere fast, but going all pastels is something most of us haven't attempted since we were 10 years old. Pastels work brilliant paired with their deeper counterparts. The outfits below brings in mixed hues of one colour. Choose your favourite colour - be it Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple, Orange, Pink... and select different shades for a winning Royal Ascot Ladies Day outfit. Leave matchy-matchy outfits for Mother of the Bride. Adding contrast to your outfit not only gives it depth, but also means you don't have to spend months finding the hat that's an absolute perfect colour match to your dress.

Some Other Fabulous Dresses and Accessories I've found for you:

Below is a Gallery of other Dresses, and Accessories I've found but not included in the above outfits. All perfect for a day at the races.