Royal Ascot Fashion
Top hats, fascinators and creative finery are on display at Royal Ascot, an annual horse race meeting in England.
We look back at the AP’s historical photo coverage of the event, with a focus on fashion.
Fashions are modeled in the annual Drapery Trades Exhibition which opened at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington, England on April 28, 1930. Here are modeled some clothes for Ascot. (AP Photo/Sidney Beadal)
Three ladies as they make their way to the race track, at Ascot, England, on June 14, 1933. (AP Photo)
Fashionably dressed race-goers hold onto their hats in the strong breeze before the start of the races at Ascot, England, on June 19, 1934. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
Two racegoers wear striking fashions at Ascot Races, England, on June 19, 1934. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
A couple pictured at Ascot Racecourse, on June 21, 1935. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
Sunshine, society and fashion attend the first day of the meeting, at Ascot, on June 18, 1936. (British Movietone/AP Archive)
Margaret Sweeney, The Duchess of Argyll, at Ascot Race Course for the Royal Hunt Cup, on June 17, 1936. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
Two of the many black and white outfits seen at Ascot, on the first day of the annual races, on June 13, 1939. (AP Photo)
A lady wears striking fashion as she waits for a train at Waterloo Station, London, on June 14, 1939, on her way to watch the racing at Ascot. (AP Photo)
A lady wears striking fashion as she waits for a train at Waterloo Station, London, on June 14, 1939, on her way to watch the racing at Ascot. (AP Photo)
Fashions seen at Ascot race course, England, on June 14, 1939. (AP Photo/Len Puttnam)
Now Princess Ali Khan, actress Rita Hayworth, wearing a dress of blue with white polka dots and a sable fur wrap, is seen leaving her Hotel in London, England on her way to the horse races at Ascot, on June 16, 1949. (AP Photo)
Miss Bonagh Wild wears a paisley scarf over a peach dress, at Ascot Racecourse in England, on June 19, 1952. (AP Photo/Dennis Lee Royle)
Queen Elizabeth II walks through the crowds at Ascot, England on June 16, 1954. Behind her are Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, with the Duke of Norfolk, and behind them is Princess Margaret. (AP Photo)
Queen Elizabeth II smiles happily (right) as she watches her horse "Restoration" being unsaddled at Ascot race course, on June 19, 1958, after winning the King Edward VII stakes. With her are Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. (AP Photo)
Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh attend the first day of Royal Ascot, on June 21, 1956. (British Movietone/AP Archive)
Princess Margaret, and Anthony Armstrong-Jones walk through paddock at England's Ascot Racetrack on July 19, 1960. (AP Photo)
Actress Sue Gerrard, wears a fruity hat at the Royal Ascot Race meeting in Ascot, Berkshire, on June 17, 1969. She was standing among the crowd waiting to get a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II driving down the course in her open landau. (AP Photo/Robert Rider-Rider)
A woman wearing a minidress and a decorated hat and a man wearing a grey topper, check their race cards at Ascot, England on June, 28, 1967. (AP Photo)
Gertrude Shilling at the Royal Race meeting at Ascot, Berkshire on June 17, 1969, wearing a top-hat styled with a long black feather. (AP Photo/Robert Rider-Rider)
Gertrude Shilling wears a giant size hat as she leaves her home in London, England, June 17, 1975 to go to the Royal Ascot race meeting. The headgear and dress are her own creation and consists of twenty six yards of purple and pink crepe satin. (AP Photo/Peter Kemp)
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a peach outfit with a large white hat, moves through a large crowd on the first day of the four-day Royal Ascot race meeting at Ascot, England on June 16, 1981. (AP Photo)
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Diana, Princess of Wales drive in an open carriage down the Ascot race course as they arrived on June 18, 1985. (AP Photo/Dave Caulkin)
Gertrude Shilling, mother of royal milliner David Shilling, wears a black and white creation in horse-shoe shape, at the Royal Ascot races in England on June 20, 1989. (AP Photo/John Redman)
Princess Margaret and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson at Ascot, England on June 20, 1991. (AP Photo/Gillian Allen)
Isabell Kristensen wearing a large flower hat design walks around the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot, June 18, 1996. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Designer Isabell Kristiansen, wearing a large pink hat looks back towards the paddock as she walks through the Royal Enclosure on the second day of the annual Royal Ascot horse racing meeting at Ascot, England, on June 16, 2004. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Racegoer Chintha Panditaratne from Melbourne, Australia, wears a hat by Maya Kalan, at the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting at York Racecourse, York, England, on June 14, 2005. Royal Ascot, the 300 year old royal meeting, is being held in York this year as the Ascot course is being redeveloped. (AP Photo/Paul Ellis)
A racegoer arrives for Ladies Day, on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting, at York Racecourse, York, England, on June 16, 2005. Royal Ascot, the 300 year old royal meeting, is being held in York this year as the Ascot course is being redeveloped. (AP Photo/Paul Ellis)
Racegoers keep to the shade as temperatures are expected to reach around 30 Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) after arriving for the first day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting in Ascot, England, on June 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Racegoers arrive on the second day of the annual Royal Ascot horse race meeting in Ascot, England, on June 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Photo editing by Katherine O’Mara.