Every year on the third day of Royal Ascot, guests – particularly women – are encouraged to wear their finest and most extravagant ensembles.
Officially named Gold Cup Day, Ladies’ Day is the most popular and well attended of the five day racing event. Its colloquial title stems from when women were given free or discounted tickets, but nowadays, it’s the moment in the British calendar where fashion and horse racing collide.
Here’s a round up of the best looks of Royal Ascot’s Ladies’ Day 2024.
Feathers and finery
It seems Netflix’s Bridgerton has rubbed off onto this years’ Ascot attires, with feathers and finery leading the way as the accent of choice.
Season three of the regency rom-com focused on the Featherington family. A set known for overloading their gowns with feathers, flowers and jewels. It seems the opulence of the Austen-era has seeped into 2024, with ostrich feathers and frills adorning countless frocks.
Bountiful blooms
Florals continued to be a firm favourite, from simple accents to soaring towers. Royals and racegoers experimented with diverse flowers and even incorporated natural foliage. Queen Camilla showcased a blooming rose on her cream hat.
This year it seemed racegoers were more interested in telling stories with their outfits than showcasing simple displays. Whether conveying an ecological ethos or advocating for individuality, each ensemble had a message standing for more than what met the eye.
Simple and monochrome
Many have taken the royal cue and kept it simple, with classic prints and monochromatic palettes. Zara Tindall wore a powder blue puffed sleeve dress and flat rimmed hat with a ruffled accent. Her Ladies’ Day look was reminiscent of the royal palette of 2019’s Royal Ascot .
British opera singer, Katherine Jones, and television presenter, Charlotte Hawkins, called back to the Sixties with structured square-neck cuts and vintage accents such as sheer mesh gloves and a pillbox hat.
Polka dots also featured heavily, reminiscent of the Alessandra Rich dress Kate, Princess of Wales, wore to Ascot in 2022.
The pattern also calls to mind the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who frequently sported the print and wore a similar black and white ensemble to Ascot in 1988.
The wild and wonderful
Flowers and feathers were not the only head turners at Ladies’ Day. Attendees experimented with bubbles, figurines and even taxidermy to create truly bespoke looks.
Internet personality, Angelina Chebotareva Rockefeller, wore a custom made owl head piece, dressed with a curtain of feathers surrounding and a long silk ribbon fastening around her neck.
Individuality has certainly emanated as a leading trend for this years’ Ladies’ Day. Pushing boundaries and showcasing unique designs has coursed through the fashion. One female racegoer donned a top hat and tails, evocative of PR and Marketing Manager, Daisy Knatchbull’s 2017 Ascot look, where she was the first women to wear the suit in the Royal enclosure.
Although the discount for ladies no longer exists, the desire to dress to impress most certainly does.