Winning fashion tips for the Punchestown Festival

With the Punchestown Festival taking place next week and a €20,000 five-star trip to South Africa up for grabs in its Best Dressed Lady Competition, Paula Burns has advice from winners, judges and milliners

For more than a century Ladies’ Day has been a constant staple of the many race meetings throughout the country. Thanks to the strict dress code of the 1800’s British Royal Ascot meetings, getting our best glad rags on for show has become the highlight of the racing season. Back then, entry to the sought after Royal Enclosure required morning dress with a top hat for the men and a decently covered day dress for the ladies.

With the smart dress code came a sense of competition to stand out from the crowd and what a better way to do so then with a hat, a tradition that has remained firmly in tack.