Zara Tindall delivers summer in an outfit with her sunshine yellow dress and boater hat at Royal Ascot

Zara Tindall delivered summer in an outfit with her sunshine yellow dress and boater hat for the first day of Royal Ascot 2024.

The UK summer weather might have been disappointing in recent weeks but Zara Tindall brightened up a cloudy day at Royal Ascot with her gorgeous yellow outfit on 18th June. We would expect nothing less of the equestrian royal than making an appearance on Day 1 of the annual event and she did it in style. Zara’s sunshine yellow dress and hat have inspired us to add more of this colour into our summer capsule wardrobe and she went for a fun pastel take on the classic shirt dress. Falling to an elegant midi length, it had a classic pointed collar and fitted bodice with a semi-sheer section at the very top that was carried through into the sleeves.

The puffed sleeves brought a more playful feel to this otherwise quite timeless outfit and the waist belt made from the same fabric as the skirt and lower bodice accentuated Zara’s silhouette perfectly. 

Shop Sunshine Yellow for Summer

The material itself is what summer dreams are made of and if you’re on the look-out for the best wedding guest dresses then a buttery sunshine yellow one like this would be a winner. Vivid yellow might be tricky to wear but a soft shade like that of Zara’s dress is much more wearable than you might imagine. Paired with white or beige accessories - or even a contrasting colour like a pop of red or green - a muted or pastel yellow looks stunning and is something a little different from the often-seen white dresses in the warmer months.

The fabric of Zara’s dress had a mottled floral-like print on it with touches of ivory that also mellowed the colour palette in a lovely way. She chose to add even more yellow into her Ascot outfit with her hat and if there’s one design that she’s a huge fan of for formal events it’s a boater.

Her yellow hat was worn at an angle over her golden hair for Ascot Day 1, but it still had the beautiful boater hat shape we all know and love. Running around the base of the hat was a mint green ribbon and the brim had a latticed, woven texture to it that immediately drew the eye.

Zara’s boater hat perfectly coordinated with her yellow dress and gave her outfit a contemporary twist to it. She finished off her Ascot outfit with a white Sauvereign Aphrodite clutch bag and a pair of gold drop earrings that each featured a pale yellow stone, and wore her blonde hair pinned back in immaculate twists underneath her hat.

It wasn’t just Zara who embraced sunshine yellow for Royal Ascot this year as her uncle King Charles wore a waistcoat in a similar shade too, whilst her husband Mike Tindall wore a yellow rose in his buttonhole.

It’s also likely that Zara Tindall’s yellow look won’t be the last one we see from her at Ascot 2024. She has attended Ascot on multiple days in the past - as have plenty of her fellow royals, including the King and Queen.

For Day 1 in 2023 she wore another floral shirt dress with puffed sleeves, this time in a pistachio green hue with hints of pink. Zara also wore a boater hat tied with pink and green ribbon and went for nude-pink heels and a clutch bag to accessorise.