ascot outfit - is this suitable for the royal enclosure?

[carat]

It's the first day and the Queen will be there.

I like this from LK Bennett. It's navy, plain and safe, but at a size 18, colour and a little print would really emphasise my backside size.

What do you think?

Now, you have to wear a hat or large fascinator in the Royal Enclosure, so should I stick to navy or go for something a little brighter? I quite like this light navy combo.

Any thoughts/ ideas?

Oh lordy, if someone critiqued me, I'd die. However, I shall put up a picture should I appear in any press cuttings!

I would really shy away from ordering online as although you get a good idea of design, you don't see the colour shade, scale, or quality until you have it.

My mum had a similar dress for my wedding, and wore a hat in this colour. It looked fab.

mylovelymonster - am planning to purchase everything this weekend, so shoes can be worn in, dress altered if necessary and the hat will be the last thing. It's easy for me to get into central london, but the hat place is in Sunningdale, Berkshire - at leasr an hour, by car.

You will look beautiful. There are many horrors at Ascot every year, even in the Enclosure, and you will certainly not be one of those in what you are going for.

Love some of the hats on this website, but look at the photos! They have photoshopped the hats onto the models.

If you do get to the hat shop, H112 is very chic - with a navy base/brim, and navy/pink feathers for flourish and bit of height. I would go for a good size navy clutch.

If you need a wrap/pasmina/silk scarf for some extra feminine detail and warmth, don't forget to check out Liberty's when you're in town, if you have time!

Perfect belt & shoes. Just what I had in mind.

If you're going for neutral accessories, how about this?

Just to go against what most of you have just said I really like the fascinator and bag combo in your original post. The fascinator is simple and elegant and looks really pretty and does look more like a hat anyway. It looks really easy to wear, bearing in mind you have got to balance that on your head all day. There is so much snobbery about fascinators against hats, there is no reason why fascinators can't be as glamourous and elegant as hats. Lets face it I've seen as many fashion disasters with people wearing hats as I have fascinators. As Ascot last year the guy doing the critiques was talking about the death of the fascinator and behind him were about 8 women walking past wearing fascinators in the Royal Enclosure and they all looked amazing. There are always exceptions Beatrice and Eugenie being the ultimate no no. Love the dress btw.

I would go for the navy dress with red court shoes, neutral belt and a neat red hat on page 4 with my hair tied back very tightly, maybe into a low bun?

With the very plain and elegant dress I feel you could get away with a boldly large white or cream broad brimmed hat, maybe with a navy trim. Something like this from your site, only in white

We ought to have an MN outing to Ladies Day one year

Noo - have you tried "Viola" on? It's a jersey dress and not lined - it does not look good on anything less than a perfect bod (IMHO).
Colour is fab - but I'd look for a lined dress with a bit more structure in the same style. And wear with nude shoes.
Sorry - hope I've not put a huge downer on you. I bought a Viola from ebay - and it was awful on my 6 month post baby size 14 wobbly bod.
Maybe if you wear a full length spanx slip?

chocolateteabag - went to LK Bennett today and you're right, it's jersey and I tried on a 16, which was huge! It's awful, I had no idea it was jersey, but it's thin, flimsy jersey. HIDEOUS!

I tried on the bow shoes today - they are SOOOO UNCOMFY! The peeptoe just tries to sever your big toe. It continued to throbbed for at least 5 min after I left the shop. Shame because the style is gorgeous and in so many lovely colours.

Can I suggest you hire a hat - it's a fraction of the cost and you can get some fabulous designer ones!

I hired one for a posh wedding, I took my dress along, they had changing areas so you could try the whole outfit and see how you look.

If you're local to Ascot the shop I went to is in Crowthorne!

Just read the whole thread, dammit... sorry for the cross post (s)!!