Famcy Hats

Race week at Britain's Royal Enclosure celebrates three centuries of hoofs and headwear.

Los Angeles Times fashion columnist Susan Denley says Britain's recent royal wedding "has me dreaming of hats". So she and other hatshionistas were reveling last week as the Royal Ascot races opened in southern England. Forget what the oddsmakers say about the horses: The winners, as usual, were the high-spirited confections perched on the heads of ladies of the realm. "Hats,- Denley effused, "are a part of the 300-year-old tradition here - but never in a stuffy way!" Eighty-five-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, who has been to every Ascot meeting since 1945, led the royal family in their traditional circuit around the course.

Britain's Express newspapers declared her "a clear winner" in the fashion stakes.