Advice on hat for Garden party

[Carmen79London]

Hi! First time here. I am looking for fashion advice ;)
I have a quite elegante garden party in May and will be wearing the dress in the picture attached. Any advice of what kind of hat to wear it with. Colour, size? Suggestions on shoes and clutch also very welcome! Thanks!!

https://www.choatelier.com/en/products/peonia-estampado thats the dress

Fab frock. Do you have to wear a hat? I wouldn’t, given the choice, and I love a hat. There’s a lot going on around the neck so it might be too busy around your face with a hat too. Concentrate on great shoes.

I am afraid It is compulsory. I am lost with hats. 😬

If its Buckingham Palace
hats are NOT compulsory

I think you need to go to proper hat shop and try some on.

It slightly depends how brave you feel. I think a posh version of the oversized wide-brim sun hats would be lovely with that dress. Or you could go for one of the more complicated twisted type ones

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4304464185/?ref=share_ios_native_control (But not with black trim, perhaps with one of the colours from the dress like maroon)

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1811782713/?ref=share_ios_native_control

the thing to avoid is those pastel mother of the bride ones in plasticky materials and synthetic ribbon.

the dress is lovely btw.

God there are so many terrible hats out there!!

There are a number of places that do hat hire for events like Royal Ascot. I hired a beautiful one a few years ago, I sent a photo of the dress I was wearing and they sent me a selection to choose from based on colour/style. I was too far away to try on so had to rely on a photo and my friend I was attending the event with picked it up when she got hers.

Works out a lot cheaper for a real show stopper, you just have to make sure you take good care of it.