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Hats turn heads at Ascot SLIDESHOW
A giant ice-cream cone, a black bird and 800 marshmallows featured on the vast array of exotic hats displayed at Royal Ascot today.
No effort was spared as women showed off their creations on Ladies Day as they arrived for the third day of racing.
Bowing under the weight of her headwear, Jade Taylor, from Manchester, said she had her hat personally designed, taking inspiration from a her favourite food - - marshmallows.
And she said the pale pink, wide-brimmed creation, was so heavy she would have to take it off for a "rest" at regular intervals during the racing.
"I just love marshmallows," the 19-year-old said. "I thought it would be something a bit different but I never realised it would be this heavy."
The hat, which took three weeks to put together, was made up of around 800 pink and white sweets.
Dressed in a matching pale pink satin dress, the student added: "I was eating some marshmallows and I just thought I might as well go for it - after all, they're a fat free desert."
Later she was followed through the main gates at the Berkshire racecourse by the fashion model Erin O'Connor, wearing a black feathered hat by milliner Stephen Jones.
Dressed in an elegant cream blazer and black trousers, she stressed the importance of wearing a hat - as the "exclamation mark" or "full stop" to an outfit.
"Ladies Day is a very necessary occasion for women - dressing up is not something we get to do very much these days," she said.
Admitting that it was "almost normal" for her to wear a hat, she added: "I like to think that they are like a full stop or an exclamation mark to an outfit."
O'Connor, who has featured on the front cover of fashion magazine Vogue and has been one of the faces of Marks & Spencer, added: "I have had a few errors over the years but you can't go wrong under the guidance of Stephen Jones."
Racegoers were today expecting to watch three of the Queen's horses running as they soaked up the sunshine.
The monarch has owned 20 Ascot winners over the decades and has entered six runners this year.
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Weather for Leeds
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 0 C to 5 C
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Sunny spells
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