Monochrome Outfits for a Day at the Races.

Once you have your tickets booked for a Big Race meeting like the Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot or the Melbourne Cup, start planning your outfit right there and then! Look to Pinterest or Google Image Results for 100's of pictures of past Racedays, and search Best Dressed Ladies Day for past winners in the best dressed competitions. The Dubai world cup call their Best Dressed competition the Jaguar Style Stakes, and so search this also.

As a Milliner I ask you, “Don’t leave until the last few weeks (or even worse - days) to hectically throw something together and get made and delivered in time. The most important element of your Dubai World Cup, Royal Ascot, Melbourne or Kentucky Derby 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.". Almost all Milliners (not department stores) will also work with you to make customisations and add colour accents to match your dress, shoes or bags.

In this post I'm picking out and suggesting some great ways to wear Black and White Monochrome outfits, prehaps with a little dash of another colour. If you've read any of my other posts you will know that I'm not a fan of matchy matchy outfits and almost always suggest contrasting. Matchy matchy often can look flat, non creative and not eye catching enough to stand out at the races, but where it does work is with monochromatic Black an White.

This post includes suggestions of items I've hunted out on the Internet for you. If you look through and see anything you like and click the links, I get a little diddy commission, and if you buy the item, the brand will even buy me 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.

The Nataliya Tutus headpiece illustrated with the outfit above is available for hire from the www.dress-2-impress.com online hat hire for £75.00.Click Here
The White Leather Roses Bracelet is: Etsy. Click to see Leather Roses Cuff Bracelet.
The Dress is: Ariella London. Click to see Black White Ariella Dress.
The Shoes are: Sergio Rossi. Click to see Sergio Rossi Shoes.
The Bag: Vivienne Westwood. Click to see Vivienne Westwood Bag.

The Black White Gold Slice Hat with the outfit above is available to hire from the www.dress-2-impress.com Hat Hire. Click Here.
The Dress is: Joseph Ribkoff Click to see Joseph Ripkoff Dress.
The Gold Reflective Clutch Bag is on Amazon.Click to see Metallic Gold Bag.
The Champagne is received on arrival, and throughout the day!
The Perfume is: Marc Jacobs "Daisy". Click for Marc Jacobs Perfume.
The Nail Varnish is: O.P.I. Click for O.P.I Nail Polish.
The Eyeliner Pin is: Art Deco Click for Art Deco Eyeliner.
The Shoes are: Steve Madden. Click to see Steve Madden Shoes.

The Hat is for Hire at: Dress-2-Impress.com. Click to see Black Hat.
The Dress is: Joseph Ripkoff. Click to Joseph Ripkoff Dress.
The Nail Polish: Essie. Click to see Nail Polish.
The Lipstick: Mac. Click to see Mac Lipstick.
The Eyeliner Pen: Art Deco. Click to see Art Deco Eyeliner.
The Wedges Shoes are: LK Bennett. Click to see LK Bennett Wedges Shoes.
The Silk Bag: Etsy. Click to see Etsy Bag.

The Silver Dawn Guibert headpiece illustrated with the outfit above is available to hire from the www.dress-2-impress.com Hat Hire. Click Here.
The Dress is: Coast. Click to see Coast Dress.
The Earrings: Etsy. Click to see Etsy Earrings.
The Clutch Bag: Handmade on Etsy. Click for Etsy Clutch Bag.
The Shoes: Michael Kors. Click for Michael Kors Shoes.
The Eyeshadow: Anna Sui Metallic Pearls. Click for Anna Sui Eyeshaow.
The Nail Varnish: Anna Sui. Click to see Anna Sui Nail Polish.