The annual Royal Ascot event starts on June 14 2016 running for five days

With hundreds of thousands of race-goers expected to head for the Berkshire racecourse, event organisers are keener than ever to make the dress code clear three months in advance in order to give attendees enough time to choose an appropriate outfit.

In a newly-released style guide by the officials, women attending the Royal Enclosure have been asked to ensure all skirts and dressed are knee-length or longer and that trousers suits are not cropped.

Straps, as ever, must be 1 inch or wider, and hats must be worn at all times. If you’d prefer to wear a headpiece then it must be 4 inches or more.

A Cara Meehan London headpiece are all the perfect size and permitted in the Royal Enclosure.

Gentlemen in the Royal Enclosure must wear black or grey Morning Dress with – of course – a waistcoat.

Top hats must be worn and must also be black or grey, while smart shoes are only welcome in black.

Things are a little more relaxed in the Queen Anne enclosure, but there are still a number of rules to note.

Hats, headpieces and fascinators are all welcome, but there must be no strapless looks. Dresses with a sheer strap are equally unwelcome.

For the male attendees, Morning Dress can be put aside in favour of a smart suit with shirt and tie.
The most important rule you should remember:

Leave the track in the outfit you enter in.  That means if you are wearing gloves, you leave wearing your gloves.  If you are wearing a hat or headpiece, you leave with it in place on your head.

Shoes, well if you have been standing all day I can understand wanting to hop into some lower heel.  The perfect solution.  The afterparty shoe. There is nothing worse than seeing a beautifully dressed lady leaving the course in bare feet.