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ROYAL ASCOT 2002
There was good weather, food, drink and the Queen's Golden Jubilee to celebrate and the enthusiasm of the crowds made this an Ascot to remember. The fashion was eclectic but there was one unifying factor -fun mixed with elegance. Yes, there was the cocaine scandal not to mention Rod Stewart, a pop superstar who was turned away from the Royal Enclosure for being inappropriately dressed. How can we forget the euphoria, which is built up when the winning horse is heading for the finish line. All this considered, it is always the fashion at Ascot that gets heads turning and tongues wagging and it is the stylish hats each with its own individual flair that you cannot ignore.
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"Ascot has been amazing this year. Ladies Day has probably been the most exciting," according to Tracy Rose, who made a mesmerising appearance in a broad rimmed, crown shaped, gold lame hat decorated with faux crown jewels- a tribute to the Queen's golden jubilee. It apparently only took her a few weeks to complete this work of art. This was worn with a matching body clinging gold dress, shoes and bag and Tracy's long nails were painted gold to complete the jubilee look. Tracy is an Ascot icon, who never fails to provide that added glamour and flamboyance which Ascot thrives on. Others followed up with the jubilee theme by showing up in a cross of Saint George waistcoat, Union Jack hat and shoes.
All eyes were on Princess Anne's daughter, Zara Phillips as she made dramatic appearances with the paparazzi snapping away anxious to get a good shot of the currently most fashionable royal. Zara was just recently named as one of the top 50 most stylish women by America's People magazine. Her style gurus have been busy at work creating a new image for the chic royal by dressing her for Ascot in designs by Elspeth Gibson, a lilac outfit accompanied with a purple mini-topper and on Ladies Day she wore a silver dress/coat by newcomer Ashley Isham with a matching side-swept hat.
Celebrity watching was at its height with the likes of Ivana Trump, Bruce Forsyth and his beautiful wife and quite a few of the young royals and soap opera stars. The current Miss World from Nigeria, Agbani Darego who will soon be known as the face of L'Oreal International was striking in a bright fuchsia number as she made her debut at Ascot.
To mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee The Royal Ascot magazine put together a highly impressive collage of colourful photographs documenting the fifty years of fashion at Ascot. This collection began by marking the 1950's as the period of post-war elegance, grace and femininity. It was the era of Yves Saint Laurent as he began his designing career for the house of Dior. It was also a time where every stylish woman would not be caught dead without her hat and gloves. The sixties were represented by the Twiggy phenomenon and the skirts at Ascot were a little shorter than previous years. The Ascot look during the seventies kept up the shorter skirt theme but added were the big, bold patterns, which made a bold statement. By the eighties at Ascot power dressing was in with shoulder pads and bright colours. Zandra Rhodes was at the peak of her career. The nineties was the age of individuality, the cool and confident Britannia and there was a feel of flamboyance. By the millennium there was an abundance of colour such as this years Ascot filled with bright pink, fuchsia, red and appropriately gold designs and one could sense amongst all this splendour that summer had truly arrived. As the strawberry and cream was being devoured and champagne bottles were popping, one couldn't help but relax in the sheer sophistication, glamour that places Ascot in a class of its own.
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Photos : Joe Okwesa
