Even when it rains, style reigns at Royal Ascot

The rain never seems to be too far away when there’s a big British sporting event happening (just ask fans of Wimbledon and Cricket) however thankfully it seemed many ladies still went for it on Ladies Day at Ascot despite the rain and had glamorous and bazaar hats, umbrellas and wellies to protect them from the miserable weather conditions.

Although I really enjoy the races and the obligatory several race forecast bet, what I really look forward to is seeing the latest millinery creations for their quirky designs and bright colours.  As my millery course at the London College of Fashion taught me how difficult it is to construct asymetrical hats (one of my passions), I've always admired how such a reknown name as Philip Tracey creates these fabulous sweeping shapes. 

I love the bright red colour of this hat and the contrasts of shapes and textures.  Welsh singing superstar Katherine Jenkins shows off Philip Treacy's design.

Now when it comes to colour, acqua  is really in this year, and I couldn't resist this stunning dress and hat combo below.....  umm just makes me want to jump into a pool somewhere hot in Europe!

 

Quirky - definitely!








Either side are some great examples of this year’s outlandish hat designs.... with the right being the least tasteful, no pun meant!

Whilst this imaginative hat on the right was made to pay tribute to Queen Anne, who officially opened the races at Ascot in 1711.  Worn by presenter Anneka Tanaka-Svenska, it is made from fake hair pearls and cabbages and roses made from silk.... I hope it survived the rain!

Lets hope that the rain stops in time so that we can all enjoy Murray playing in the final at Wimbledon!

Could this be the year?

With Wimbledon only a few days away and the British number one Andy Murray seeded 4th, the British pubic have an extra reason to feel optimistic, will we finally have a British Wimbledon Champion?

Did you follow his progress at the warm up recently at Queens? It was exciting as ever, watching Murray defeat Malisse, Tipsarevic, Cilic and then annihilate former champion Andy Roddick in the semi final, before coming up in the final against the man who had defeated the worlds number one, Rafal Nadal, in the previous round: Frenchman Tsonga.

With the rain covering the picturesque West Kensington, Sunday's play was a total wash out - perhaps even the dire British weather was on Murray's side to give him an extra day to recover his strength for Monday!

When play resumed, you could see the spectators enjoying the sunshine and sipping champagne, whilst Murray played some incredible and elegant shots one wouldn’t dream of playing in such a crucial game. But true to form, after falling behind in the first set Murray showed his courage and nerve to overcome the strong Frenchman to lift the silverware in an epic finale.

With Wimbledon having such an exciting line up, I can't wait to go down to SW19 for some live play over the next few weeks. How will I manage to keep my gorgeous Mulberry tote from getting dirty or stolen whilst I tuck into the traditional Wimbledon strawberries and cream? Well I shall be using my new ballerina pink heart handbag hook, a lovely and subtle girly colour that will be perfect for when I'm also enjoying Pimms at the bar!

Murray's seeding means he won't face any of the three players seeded above him until the semi-finals at the earliest. With Nadal (top seed), Novak Djokovic 2nd and Roger Federer 3rd, out of play until the semi's - maybe the current 11/2 odds are worthy of a little flutter on Murray for an outright win?

Roll on Wimbledon!

A world full of natural wonder

As we go about our daily lives, its easy to take all the natural wonders of the world for granted.

Every year there is one day in June dedicated to the environment, the World Environment Day (WED) which was created to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action. 

This year’s WED being held in India on “Forests: Nature At Your Service”.

 

At CarrieMe the environment is a great inspiration for our designs. We love natural colours and our Compact Bag Hook collection really shows this off!