What to wear to the races isn’t just a dress issue- an outfit for the races needs to tick all the right boxes in terms of what you wear with it.  A stunning dress can be ruined by the wrong jacket, too much jewellery, or an oversized hat. On a practical note, getting what to wear to the races right, can mean the difference between having a good day and having an amazing day!  You don’t want to be shivering in the stalls or caught short in the rain, due to not being properly prepared.  Below is a checklist for you, your dress and your handbag to ensure ‘what-to-wear-to-the-races’ worries are banished come race-day.

What to Wear to the Races – Practical Must-Haves

• An small-sized umbrella- you don’t want your what-you-wore-to-the-races photos to look more like what-you-were-wet-in-at-the-races type pics.

• A spare pair of tights; always handy should yours ladder/the weather turn- we have various tights to buy from our hosiery section.
• A decent sized bag or roomy clutch- this Angel Jackson satchel will fit all your essentials and add edge to your outfit.
• A shawl for when it gets chilly/warming up your seat/protecting your dress.  Browse our shawls to buy such as this Vintage Rose Tassel one (pictured), by Honey Lulu.
• A pair of sunglasses.  It might be worth bringing sun cream or applying it before you go.

What NOT to Wear to the Races

Stilettoes or any other heel that is likely to sink into the grass is THE major what-not-to-wear-to-the-races tip.

Aside from that, get your hemline and straps in order (always check the dress code on the official website of the particular race meeting you are attending) and what to wear to the races is suddenly a piece of cake!

Ãœber Stylish Fashionista & Author of the  ‘What I Wore Today’ blog Talks Dresses & Lust Lists….

You first ever dress was: Oooh I couldn’t really say, as a child I used to be dressed in hand-me-downs from an American friend of the family and they were always very ‘different’. It probably fueled my desire to have clothes that stood out.

Your oldest dress: I wear a few of my Mother’s dresses from the 70s, including the dress one of her bridesmaids wore. Some of my most ‘on trend’ dresses this season are nearly 40 years old! 

Your most expensive dress: A very special Burberry dress. It was the first LBD I ever bought.

Seen the most dancefloors: I have a terrible habit of not wearing the same dress out dancing more than a few times (which is why I’m a fan of GMD!) but the dress I have worn the most is probably a cheapie cheap Zara dress. It fits as though it was perfectly tailored to my curves, but it’s dark, insanely cheap and can be shoved in the washing machine so I never have to panic about spilling drinks on it.

Favourite dress: A stunning emerald green silk halterneck maxi dress by Belle & Bunty.

What was the last event you wore a dress to and what did you wear? I hosted an event at Mango’s flagship UK store with Stylist Magazine last week, I wore a gorgeous camel and red colour block dress.

Mini or Maxi? Both! I wear a lot of maxi dresses, I’m 5ft11 with shoes on so I don’t have to worry about drowning under a maxi dress. But I’m learning to love mini dresses too, as long as I can wear tights – I hate my legs!

Who are your red carpet idols? Who always gets it right? I’m in love with Hailee Steinfeld, there are no words for how much I love her. Either she’s a very stylish 14 year old or she has a very talented stylist! Both her Oscar and BAFTA dresses this year were my favourite red carpet gowns of awards season. Penelope Cruz is another firm favourite.

What is your most memorable dress moment? Oooh I couldn’t possibly divulge that, but it involved a black lace mini dress and a rather nice young man.

Which dress would be top of your Girl Meets Dress lust list? I am a huge fan of Christopher Kane, he’s always incredibly sweet to work with and he is sickeningly talented. I love this accordian silk dress . 

As someone who always has a new event to attend – how would Girl Meets Dress complement your life? I always like to wear something new, it’s a bad habit but I know I’m not the only girl like it! GMD not only solves the dress hire issue, it also enables girls to wear dresses which might otherwise be prohibitively expensive. I don’t want to spend hundreds of pounds on a dress I feel like I can only wear to an event once, so I’d rather pay a fraction of the price to have it for one weekend. The GMD collection is so well curated too, I’ve discovered dresses I’d have never have come across otherwise.

‘Hmm, what to wear at a wedding?’ you’re thinking, as you glance at the invitation pinned to the fridge, tormenting you each and every time walk past it.  ‘An outfit for a wedding,’ you say to yourself.  ‘Can’t be that hard.’  But as you start to think about it in more detail, the ‘what to wear at a wedding question’ becomes a lot harder to answer. Deciding what to wear to a wedding requires getting the four ‘w’s (that’s who, what, where, and whens of the wedding) exactly right.

A Designer Wedding Outfit? What to Wear at a Wedding – Tailoring it for the Occasion

No matter the ‘who’, (whose wedding you’re attending) in getting what to wear to a wedding right, your outfit needs  to make the right kind of statement – not one of the ‘upstage the bride’ kinds, nor one of the ‘far too casual for a wedding’ kind. An outfit for a wedding needs to give off all the right impressions; it’s as much a symbol of your feelings toward the due-to-be wed couple as anything.  A shabby outfit for a wedding spells indifference, while an outfit for a wedding that is overdone and outshines the bridal gown itself, might spell disaster/embarrassment for multiple parties.

What Do I Wear to a Wedding? What to Wear at any Wedding

Depending on the ‘when’ and the ‘where’ of the big day, you may need to tailor you outfit for a wedding choice accordingly.  A fail-safe option is almost certainly a dress; go for something simple in cut and pattern, that you can dress up or down depending on the scale and tone of the event.  Trousers risk looking a bit too alternative, unless alternative or low-key is the order of the (wedding) day, then they are probably best left to the men.  Meanwhile, skirts can look chic, but getting a hemline and style that is both age appropriate and right for the occasion and time of year can be tricky. 

Designer Wedding Outfit Hire

‘ What do you I wear to wedding?’ you ask your work colleague.  ‘A designer wedding outfit?’ they suggest.  ‘Won’t that be expensive?’ you ask.   ‘Not if you go for designer dress hire,’ she refutes.   A designer wedding outfit doesn’t have to be expensive if you go down the route of designer dress hire.   We give you some lovely designer wedding outfit suggestions that will guarantee you look spot on, with an outfit for a wedding that ticks all four wedding  ‘w’s.   Dress up or down, with or without tights depending on the weather- versatility is everything when it comes to your designer wedding outfit! Click on each designer wedding outfit to learn more about hiring it.

1.LaDress olive tunic (left). Hire: prices start at £69.  Accesorize your designer dress outfit with this Blaguette square cocktail ring and NY straw clutch.

2. Beyond Vintage batwing dress (bottom).  Hire: prices start at £79 (RRP: £270.) Team with a chic cropped jacket and minimal accesories such as this Wilbur & Gussie ‘Edith’  leopard clutch and these labradorite drop earrings from Blaguette; a designer wedding outfit for all seasons!

3. Jonathan Saunders long silk dress. Hire: £179 (RRP: £1, 259). Blue clutch: Wilbur & Gussie.  Wear with earrings from 2. or cocktail ring from 1. 

Our very own founder Anna Bance was in Radio1 Extra studios today, chatting to the show’s host Gemma Cairney about the latest trends for Spring/Summer  2011.  Anna, channelling the brights trend in a light magenta sweater and burnt orange skinny jeans, paired with turquoise accessories, urged listeners to embrace the brights trend this summer, stressing it was a look that was flattering to both pale and more olive skin tones.

Online Designer Dress Hire Boutique Owner Dishes the Dirt on Spots vs. Stripes for S/S ’11

Stripes, it seemed, were also on the menu for S/S ’11, much to Gemma’s dismay it was stripes and not spots (she admitted to being more of a spot fan.)  Out of all the dress hire horror stories, the luxury dress hire boutique founder confessed the worst to be a girl who had hired a dress and then had money stapled to it over the course of the night she hired it.  But as Anna was keen to stress, the main concern for Girl Meets Dress is that women have fun and really relish wearing their ball dresses.