Royal Ascot Ladies Day 2012: New Dress Code Will Replace Spectacle with Class

If you were hoping to follow the 2012 Royal Ascot Ladies Day to catch a glimpse of ladies wearing hats not big enough to cover a babies head, you are going to be sadly disappointed.

Anyone walking up to the gates of the event with any hat needing a fascinator to stay atop one's head they are going to be stopped by one of the members of a new team specially trained dress code assistants. 

This is all part of a very conscious effort to eliminate a growing fashion trend at the event that had been swaying away from their dress code. 

This year, reminders that these new standards would be strictly enforced were sent along with the tickets and badges for the events. 

According to the Daily Mail, dresses and skirts must fall just above the knee, straps must be one-inch thick, and hats must be worn, and that is the do's. Here are the dont's: fascinators are right out, midriffs cannot be exposed and you can forget about wearing shorts.

The new "fashion police" at the gates won't simply turn violators away—they will also point their fingers and laugh at them. That is not at all true, but they aren't going to turn them away, they will be equipped with pashiminas and other over-laying items to help offenders meet the standards. 

This will certainly change the way any lady can make an impression at Ladies Day. It is easy to grab eye balls with a revealing skirt, a top missing the bottom half, or a hat so small it needs to be tied onto their head. Is it even really fair to call it a hat if it doesn't secure itself to your head. 

Now they will have to make an impression by just being smartly and attractively dressed.