Dressing For The Races

Tomorrow is Melbourne Cup Day in Australia,

 the Race that stops a nation.

Tomorrow Tuesday the 4th November of November is Melbourne Cup Day in Australia. The day the whole of Australia shuts down for a horse race. The day is given as a public holiday in the state of Victoria , but the rest of us Australians have to work. Well everyone attends work but do they work? Probably not! Their minds are probably on other things , like dressing for the races.

 

 



 

During the afternoon when the race is due to start, everyone in Australia will be watching a screen somewhere, somehow. The Melbourne Cup is a horse race that stops a nation. Well probably it stops two nations because New Zealanders are just as tied up with this race as their neighbours are. Many of the entries for the Melbourne cup are actually are bred and trained in that small country of New Zealand. Many Melbourne Cup winners have come from there, and New Zealanders are just as focused on dressing for the races as Australians are.

 

The Melbourne Cup is Australia and New Zealand’s major thoroughbred horse race.  It is a 3,200 meter race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and probably one of the richest turf races.

 

The Melbourne cup is held each year by the Victoria Racing Club at Flemington Racecourse.  The race starts at 3pm (daylight saving time) on the first Tuesday in November each year. And this has been  a nation stopper since 1861. Many a fortune has been won or lost on this race and dressing for the races is certainly a topic of debate long before the race begins.

 

Everyone looks forward to the race especially the socialites who dress up to the nines to attend. Dressing for the races is a major focus of the Melbourne Cup. 'Fashions On The Field' judges the best-dressed man and the best-dressed woman attending the race.

 

When dressing for the races there is a prerequisite for women to adorn themselves in outrageous outfits and flamboyant hats or fascinators. Many men and women plan their outfits for months. It is also a time you can show off fashion accessories to the fullest. Race day fashion more often than not attracts as much if not more attention as the race itself.

The revelry is not limited to the racetrack. Dressing for the races is a tradition no matter where you happen to be to enjoy the race. Celebrations are held all over the country on Melbourne cup day.  Businesses, offices, factories, hospitals, households close their doors and shut down their phone lines when the race is run and people flood in their thousands to gatherings, clubs and pubs to watch this prestigious race.

Bets are placed on the race in the TABS, and sweepstakes are held in just about every office and business Australia and across the ditch in New Zealand as well.

 I owned a business in the QVB located in the centre of the Sydney CBD. On Melbourne cup day I was fascinated by the ostentatious outfits worn to work by my customers. I watched with intrigue as the diverse hats and fascinators were worn to work for a day at the office and the Melbourne Cup celebrations. Then at 3pm you could hear a pin drop, the majesty of the QVB was ignored and  not a sound could be heard. But a trip over the road to the local pubs meets with crowds of excited people willing there horse to win. Dressing for the races, even if you only attend your local has become very much a norm on this extravagant day.

Dressing for the races is fun. This is one time you are allowed to express yourself and be as flamboyant as you want to be. Have you chosen your derby hat or fascinator or even a pillbox hat for the Melbourne Cup yet? A little late for this year but maybe you could purchase yours online now to be prepared for the 2015 race!! Of the Royal Ascot , or the Kentucky Derby, or whatever race you happen to attend.