Ascot Ball...hats optional? Huh?

[CruiseFever]

Ok I'm all into the black and white Captains Gala Ball, my tux works fine but what do I do for "Formal, hats optional"

 

Surely my Stetson will not do. If I am to throw myself fully into this and be right in there with the finest of of the finest....what do I wear?

[LM1]

On the sailings I have been on........maybe 5 people (women) wore hats. They were either very silly hats or elegant hats. The Ascot Ball is optional and no one is required to wear them as you know. There is a competition for best hat (last I knew). Sorry can't answer your question better than that, but that has been my observation/s.

[travel-to-go]

Chris,

Sadly, we did not have an Ascot ball on my cruise after I went all out to get materials and accessories to create my finery!

You can do some research online. Gentlemen usually wear what is known as an ASCOT HAT- which is to say, a top hat. although it really is anything goes. The more outrageous the better. I saw many MANY women wearing them on our cruise, obviously prepared and disappointed that we did not have one. I wore a few of my toppers. And I got many compliments. I think a GENUINE STETSON would be the cat's pajamas! (or pyjamas if you are British) (BTW, did I tell you I once shot an elephant in my pajamas? What he was doing in my pajamas I'll never know! <badaboom> Credit: Groucho Marx as Captain Spaulding)

I once owned a genuine Stetson, made here and bought right at the factory at the now defunct Stetson Factory in Danbury Ct. (And yes, I know why they were called mad hatters. They often went crazy from the mercury used to treat the felt.)

 

So have fun with it! I find that the more you participate, and the more outgoingly so, the more fun you will have. It's okay to do something outlandish. Heck, how about a sweeping pirates hat with large plumed Ostrich Feathers. (If you visit Curacao, you can go see the ostriches who sacrifice for us- Though truly, they tend to molt under the stress of captivity. or they bite their feathers off, or those of another bird.

 

I have a few outrageous ostrich feathers, some bold linen antiqued roses, and black and white pinstriped ones, too. OI have grosgrain ribbons, and beaded ribbon and fringe, and stripped feathers (to see what I mean, go find some pictures of the ladies' hats at Charles and Cousin Camilla's wedding. Oh, I never told you my last name is Parker? No relation... I think.) Maybe we could make a deal!

 

But whatever you do, don't take anything too seriously and HAVE FUN!

 

P.S. Ascot is known for the ladies in the paddocks trying to outdo each other with their hats. The more outlandish the better.

 

Karie, who has ALWAYS been known for her hats, including marching on Washington at a rally in my Stetson, and being intereviewed on the local news in that selfsame hat!

[molini322]

You won't believe this, but the ladies hat that won the prize (a bottle of champagne) on the cruise from Valparaiso to Rio was the following:

 

One of the toss pillows from the beds in the cabin;

A set of battery powered twinkle lights;

Several garish plastic(?) flowers;

The tie from one of the bathrobes provided in the cabins.

 

It was put together with the lights and the flowers decorating the toss pillow and then tied on her head with the bathrobe belt!!!

 

It actually looked pretty good and had the added benefit of minimizing the amount of suitcase space taken up to concoct this creation!

[mufi]

There are classes on board to make the hats. Some ladies bring their own and all take part in the parade. It seems that the winner always comes from the group who have made their hats in the class.

 

Men just watch!!

 

David.

[dtwtraveler]

Ok I'm all into the black and white Captains Gala Ball, my tux works fine but what do I do for "Formal, hats optional"

 

Surely my Stetson will not do. If I am to throw myself fully into this and be right in there with the finest of of the finest....what do I wear?

 

On the 12/8 Caribbean cruise, a man wore an outlandishly decorated straw hat (odds and ends found in his room) and was one of the winners. The reason was that he was the only man with a decorated hat who had the courage (or enough booze in him) to walk in the parade of hats in the Queen's ballroom!

 

I too was a winner with a fuschia boa wrapped around a straw hat. I purchased the boa at the Toys 'R Us in Manhatten in the Barbie section! However, if a cute little girl in a decorated hat carrying a bear in a decorated hat enters, she'll always win! The best hat prize went to a 90+ lady dressed in a long white lace dress with a lace hat (which she purchased in France). She's on the ship a lot, and hosted a cocktail party for the gentlemen hosts and told them to wear white dinner jackets (which they later changed to black tuxes for the Queen's ballroom)!

[imacruizer]

There were three men who had top hats and canes for the Ascot Ball on our cruise. They looked very elegant. I think they may have won a prize, also.

 

Even if you decide not to participate by wearing a hat, it is still fun to go to the Queen's Room and enjoy the festivities. How often do you get to go to an Ascot Ball????

[travel-to-go]

You won't believe this, but the ladies hat that won the prize (a bottle of champagne) on the cruise from Valparaiso to Rio was the following:

 

One of the toss pillows from the beds in the cabin;

A set of battery powered twinkle lights;

Several garish plastic(?) flowers;

The tie from one of the bathrobes provided in the cabins.

 

It was put together with the lights and the flowers decorating the toss pillow and then tied on her head with the bathrobe belt!!!

 

It actually looked pretty good and had the added benefit of minimizing the amount of suitcase space taken up to concoct this creation!

 

I would love to see a picture of this!

We actually brought some twinkle lights with us (along with a glue gun, two sided tape, sewing kit, scissors, paints and markers and all kinds of feathers, ribbons, bric-brac and what have you.)

But the best thing we brought with us was something called EL wire- Or Electro-luminescent wire. (Also known as Neon Wire) It is basically wire that, when hooked up to a power source, (usually a little power supply that runs on 2 AA batteries) lights up like neon. It is not very expensive (I bought scads of feet of it in several different colors plus 2 or 3 power supplies, plus even some connectors and such to make it easier to put together for around 50 or 60 dollars. The two things you need to know- Because the wires are small, they are a little hard to solder, when you buy the power supply they are rated by how many feet it will light up (more power means brighter lights) and how many functions- like slow flash, fast flash and solid on. You do have to be a little bit handy to put it together, but it is so impressive! We outlined our masks with it for the masked ball (and one of them perfectly matched the Commodore's wife Kim's dress. We have a picture of her in the mask and dress!)

When we went to Key West last fall right after Hurricane Wilma, we were supposed to be at a convention (of 3500 parrotheads or Jimmy Buffett fans) 3000 of us made it there- despite all the damage (the host hotel was severly damaged and we had to scramble to make new arrangements inclduing a full sized sound stage for several days) and that many had damage and no power in their own homes, once they decided to let us come. (the island was shut down for a bit, and there was much damage.) We were origignally scheduled to be in a balcnoy decorating contest, which ironically enough, my theme was to be "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season" a Jimmy Buffett song. This was a theme I had picked before Hurricane Wilma hit. Since our balcony on the host hotel was no longer in existance, we did the next best thing. We took just our huge outline of the state of Florida (instead of the original entire Gulf coast, representing all of the areas of the US that had been devastated in the previous 2 years), outlined it in EL wire, and then Marc whipped up a picture of Wilma Flintstone (copied from a picture on a T-shirt he saw and photographed) taped that onto the huge poster board, plugged in the batteries and we hung it on the damaged pier overlooking the lawn and our sound stage.

It was a really big hit. It will also work to decorate your balcony on the ship (especially good for the holidays) It looks good aroung the brim of a hat- oh, say, a Stetson, for instance, or a mask, or a million and one other things! I can't guarantee you'll win, but it is certainly impressive and will get you attention!

 

Karie,

Who likes to particapte and have fun on the ship! You've got to go for the gusto, as they say!

 

P.S. Just google Neon wire or EL wire to find suppliers.

[LM1]

There are classes on board to make the hats. Some ladies bring their own and all take part in the parade. It seems that the winner always comes from the group who have made their hats in the class.

 

Men just watch!!

 

David.

 

Seven crossings and seven Ascot's and never saw or heard about a class to make a hat while on the crossing, although was told on this message board one existed. We just always bring our own stuff to make the hats or bring our own ready made outrageous hats. Sometimes we wear them and sometimes we don't. Have yet to see any men in hats of any kind.

[dtwtraveler]

Seven crossings and seven Ascot's and never saw or heard about a class to make a hat while on the crossing, although was told on this message board one existed. We just always bring our own stuff to make the hats or bring our own ready made outrageous hats. Sometimes we wear them and sometimes we don't. Have yet to see any men in hats of any kind.

 

I'll have to look up my photos of the Ascot Ball! I might have one of the drunken man who entered and won a prize. Two men entered the contest, buy only one was a winner! Our "class" was run by the dance instructors. However, all they had was some glitzy paper, scissors, tape, but no glue gun! I finally borrowed a needle and thread from a tablemate and sewed on the fuschia-colored boa onto my white straw hat!

[Kindlychap]

Is this a QM2 thing?