Excited and emotional racegoers have returned to Ladies Day at Aintree for the first time in three years.
The event, famous for its style, made a comeback on Friday after being cancelled due to the pandemic in 2020 and held behind closed doors last year.
Gill Carpenter, 55, said she had been waiting two years to wear her outfit, a hot pink dress with orange accessories, complete with a striking hat she made herself.
She said: “I’m actually quite emotional. This is my favourite meeting of the year.
“I love it, I love the atmosphere, I love the style, so I have found myself quite choked to actually be here.”
Ms Carpenter, from Lydiate, Merseyside, said she had been to Ladies Day every year since she was a teenager.
She said: “I think people are just so happy to be back, to be out, to see the style and to see people in person again.
“They tried to do it virtually and it was great, it kept us going, I dressed up at home and all of that, but to actually be here and the sun be out is just magical.”
Jeanette Heaps, from Rainhill, Merseyside, said she was at Ladies Day for the first time with her husband and two sons.
She said: “The sun is shining and it’s amazing, I absolutely love it. I’m buzzing already and I have only just got here and I haven’t had a drink!
“Liverpool will come out in force and make this the best weekend ever.”
Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan was among the racegoers, wearing a brown dress and pink fascinator.
Edyta Jackson, 41, from Hull, wore a white and metallic long dress with a grey hat from Harrods to attend with husband Robert, 58.
She said: “I was thinking maybe the hat was too much, but it’s never too much.”
Mr Jackson said: “I think today is a kind of coming out, an adventure, for everybody to enjoy and embrace.”
Tracey Allen, 48, and friends who had travelled from Cumbria for the races said they had spent two years planning their outfits after originally planning to come in 2020.
She said: “We got locked down and then we couldn’t wear what we had, so we had to decide if we could still wear those dresses. We decided to buy something new”
Influencer Felicity Hayward and friend Natalie Farouz came wearing the same pink dress from Never Fully Dressed, but Ms Hayward wore it back to front with a pink fascinator while Ms Farouz accessorized with a oversized fluffy top hat.
Ms Hayward said: “We both liked the same dress so we were like ‘let’s do this’.”
Twenty-year-old Maya Killcross, from Port Sunlight, Wirral, wore a white dress with butterfly detail bought from an Instagram boutique along with a fascinator which she stuck butterfly details onto herself.
She said: “I’ve been planning this for months.
“It’s like two years worth of outfit because you have to make up for not having one last year.”
Judith Beckett, 69, from Chesterfield, said she spent £10 on red and black striped material which her friend made into a dress, while another friend created her matching hat.
She said: “It was dreadful when it was cancelled in 2020 so I’ve held the tickets over since then and held the accommodation over and now we’re here it’s wonderful.”
