“Please help!  I am in need of a dress for a formal event I have coming up at the Dorchester Hotel.  My colleagues are all quite fashion savvy so I need to be suitably stylish!  I have long hair and am open to wearing it either up or down.  I have an olive skin tone so please also recommend the best colours for my complexion.  Many thanks.”

Your event sounds really exciting, so hopefully we will be able to take some of the pressure off by finding the perfect dress.  With your olive skin tone most colours will pop beautifully on you.  Maxi dresses are all the rage this season so we love the fact you’ve decided to go with a long dress.  Jewel tones are also particularly popular at the moment and a dress which immediately springs to mind is our Butter by Nadia floor length dress in Amethyst.  The Greek goddess detailing on the back of the dress exudes style and would work best with your hair up. Team with silver accessories and strappy heels and you’re set!

Our Marchesa Notte–Paillette evening gown would also be perfect for your event.  Classically glamorous this floor length dress would work with your hair either up or down.  Embroidered with shimmering paillettes, minimal accessories are needed.  Compliment with a chic black clutch, a delicate silver necklace and strappy heels.

Finally, our Zimmerman maxi nude dress would also be very suitable for the occasion and is right on trend.   Slightly more subtle than the others, this dress is fabulously feminine yet allows you to add a touch of your own style.  Long dangly earrings, a delicate necklace and a shimmering purse would boost its glamour while giving you the freedom to wear your hair up or down.

Right now we are going crazy for the Australian high-end fashion designer Amy Boers.  With her unique take on 1930s and 40s fashion with a modern twist we have seen ostrich feathers, chiffon flounce and mini trains featured on her delicate designs.  Her latest collection After 5, under her label Amee Lou, debuted last year at the Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and has been globally renowned.  Her feminine frocks have reached the shores of the UK, Ireland and the USA.  Most recently her Eilidh Dress graced the red carpet donned by the beautiful Jessica Knappett for the premiere of the The Inbetweeners. Accented with a beautiful red pair of Vivienne Westwood heels, this outfit was so perfect you could easily mistake Knappett for a red carpet regular.

The Amee Lou collection is filled with romantic colours such as black, champagne and plum endowed with drapes and ribbons that will add just the right amount of glamour to all of your special occasions.  With cocktail dresses such as our Floris dress, Violet dress and Winona dress you’ll be sure to make that jaw-dropping entrance. Retailing for £300 to £400, at Girl Meets Dress we are able to offer these dresses to rent from just £49! Perfect for the Autumn/Winter party scene-add gold accessories, a metallic clutch and sky-high heels for head to toe chic!

It’s not just us plebs that get turned away in our dresses for the races.  In recent years even members of the royal family have been apprehended for their lax approach to dressing for the races.  And to find evidence of this we need look no further than Zara Phillips’ dress for the races she wore to one of the more scrupulous race meetings in terms of dress code- Royal Ascot- in 2008.  A black dress with red floral pattern, there was a huge slit running up to the top of Zara Phillips’ thigh- a dresses for the races no-no even for royalty. (Albeit it wasn’t as though Zara was going to be turned away from the royal enclosure; not with Queenie for a Grandma, and for the fact that she’s quite the horse woman!).

Royal Dress Disasters

While Zara might have the wherewithal to do what she likes, the daring shown by Zara doesn’t translate when it comes dresses for the races worn by other members of the royal family. Amongst dresses for the races that shocked attendees of Royal Ascot, was the Colette Dinnigan number worn by Princess Eugenie to Ascot in 2008.

A Gi-Gi-ant Dress Catastrophe

Since the fashion catastrophes of recent years witnessed at Royal Ascot, Ascot authorities have been at pains to redefine exactly what is meant by ‘formal day dress’ mentioned in the race meeting dress code mandate.   This was probably provoked by the huge number of dresses for the races that did not meet dress code guidelines.  Since the outbreak of inappropriate dresses for the races, authorities issued a new statement saying that for ladies ‘only formal day dress with a hat or substantial fascinator will be acceptable.  Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and/or miniskirts are considered unsuitable.’  In addition, ‘midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour.’

2011 Dresses for the Races Forecast

2008 seemed a golden year for risqué dresses for the races.  But what will the dresses for the races forecast look like for 2011? We can’t wait to find out. (And secretly hope there will be a few faux pas as it keeps the whole event interesting!). But to avoid looking ‘interesting’ why not hire a designer dress from our site.  The dresses pictured are part of the designer dress hire collection specifically for the races.

The Royal Ascot dress code is a difficult thing to get right and something that high fashion does not often cater to. In trying to find Royal Ascot dresses, many women choose to hire designer dresses, finding the selection of Royal Ascot dresses offered by dress rental services to be ampler and often more tailored to the Royal Ascot dress code. In other words, online designer dress hire makes the lives of women, who would otherwise dread having to buy or hire their Royal Ascot dresses a much less stressful experience.

Rent Designer Dresses – Avoid Wardrobe Malfunctions at Royal Ascot

On the subject of dress code, Royal Ascot is renowned for being strict.  Depending on the event, the Royal Ascot dress code can vary.   The Royal Enclosure dress code is of course the strictest area of all where Royal Ascot dress code is concerned.  And exceptions are not made for the privileged and the influential, the rich, or the famous.  Which is why last year, Emmerdale actress Roxanne Palett was turned away from the Royal Enclosure because stewards ruled her dress to be too short.

Women who choose to hire a dress from an online designer dress hire boutique like Girl Meets Dress, know that the collection of dresses available to rent have been hand-picked for the occasion.   So when they rent designer dresses, all of which are high-fashion labels, ladies wanting to look their best can rest assured that their selections absolutely meet the occasion dress requirements.  What’s more, if you rent designer dresses from an online designer dress hire service  you can borrow multiple pieces.   Which is particularly useful if you require Royal Ascot dresses for several of the event days.

Royal Ascot Dresses – Dress Code for the Royal Enclosure

If you are lucky enough to get invited to the Royal Enclosure ( if you are not a member you need to be invited by a member who has attended for four consecutive previous years), when you hire a dress be sure to let the online designer dress hire customer services know.  The Royal Ascot dress code for women attending the Royal Enclosure is as follows:

• ‘Formal day dress with a hat or substantial fascinator’
• ‘Off the shoulder, halter neck, spaghetti straps and dresses with a strap of less than one inch and miniskirts are considered unsuitable’
• ‘Midriffs must be covered and trouser suits must be full length and of matching material and colour’

The online designer dress hire stylists at Girl Meets Dress have put together the following Royal Ascot dresses suggestions, ensuring you do just the right amount of ‘standing out’ from the crowd.

1. Alberta Ferretti – Floral print dress – hire: £179, RRP: £948

2. TIBI – Patterned silk dress – hire: £49, RRP: £320  

3.  Halston Heritage – Knot cocktail dress – hire: £99, RRP: £223.

4. Paul & Joe – Montargi dress – hire £89, RRP: £300.