One sunny Saturday, a busload of classmates headed out to the Ascot race course. As soon as we donned our heels and hats and grabbed our picnic boxes for a lunch in the car park (odd tradition) it began to rain. Pour. Bucketfuls of water from above diluted our Pimm's cocktails. Can it get more English than that? Oh yes, it can - walking to the race course over wet, muddy grass, in those aforementioned high heels...
The Queen and her entourage arrived in an open carriage, but true to her outdoorsy nature, she did walk around on the grass quite some that day.
The viewing building with its guest box balconies resembled a giant ocean liner.
My tiny, creme-silk-and-chocolate-pearls hat was made for me by the lovely Karen Lewis in Cambridge. The hat was topped with an adorable, curled feather which unfortunately did not fit the picture frame.
I believe the busload of business students betting for horses lost more than they won, but perhaps the opportunity cost was less than the delightful experience of the Royal Ascot races?
Top image courtesy of www.ascot.co.uk.
June 20, 2011
Sun, rain, mud, horses, Pimm's, and a sea of hats
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2 comments:
I'm quite fond of ladies wearing hats, madam.
I vaguely recall a passage in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being regarding women and hats.
Indeed - I think it was a man's bowler hat that became a symbol for a woman's sexuality.
I wish ladies' hats were worn much more than they currently are, especially in Finland. Fortunately, other ladies agree and have come up with a hat parade, arranged a few times every summer, where ladies proudly walk the streets of Helsinki dressed in their best and wearing statement hats!
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