For a variety of reasons, I rarely leave the farm. Every once in a while I get the opportunity to get away and earlier this month, courtesy of some very generous friends, I was able to experience one of my bucket list items, The 144th Kentucky Derby! As if the name of my blog isn’t an indicator, I adore fashion and animals so events like this tend to be right up my alley.
With visions of pomp and circumstance dancing in my head, we drove to Louisville Thursday night accompanied by our giant hat boxes. I was excited to ditch my muddy farm boots and clothes for a weekend of playing dress up despite my anxiety over leaving my fur and feather babies.
Friday morning we were up bright and early for The Oaks. The Oaks is the day the fillies race all day. Upon arrival at Churchill Downs you could feel the electricity in the air. The buildings and people alike were swathed in pink. There were flowers and people dressed to the nines everywhere I looked. It was delightful. Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in people watching I forgot to take a picture of the décor but I did get one of my drinks…the famed Lily cocktail in it’s signature glass…complete with pink race horses.
The big thing that stood out to me over the day wasn’t the horses, it was the over the top outfits, the see and be seen opportunities and the mass amount of media. This is not the event for private people. I have no idea how many photos and videos were taken of us during the day, but it was far more than I expected. My friend, Della, warned me but it far exceeded my expectations as photographers and video cameras swirled about the attendees.
The theme of the day, for the female horse races, as mentioned above, was pink. Even men adorned themselves with pink in the form of socks, pocket squares, belts, shoes and all sorts of creative accessories. I appreciated their efforts. Of course, we wore pink as well. Della, in the form of her hat and I pretty much covered myself in the color:
The second day – Derby Day – it rained. Allll day. My hat for derby day was very large and along with other very large hats worn by others it was like playing bumper cars walking around. As the day went on, my hat drooped over my face. Taking pictures, or even seeing where I was going was almost comedy. At one point someone walked up, lifted the front of my hat and asked “Are you still in there?” This was a common scene as the weather put a damper on all the fabulous hats. At one point I tried to get a selfie of the track behind me. This was the best I could get:
Fortunately most people are more than willing to take pictures for you so you can actually see beyond the hats.
We got a lot of great pics during the weekend but this one I was able to get with a jockey after his race was priceless and we matched!
I have some tips for anyone going to The Oaks or Derby:
- Invest in a clear bag – I hate these but it would have been a life saver to carry extra shoes, food and store commemorative glasses, etc.
- Take comfy shoes – seating is scarce and the smart women (not me) brought flats or even flip flops
- Bring a small bag of Epsom salts (to keep in your hotel) – Della and I wish we would have. It would have been a lifesaver to soak our swollen feet after each long day.
- Bring your own food. There is decent food court items for sale but there was zero shame in bringing in gourmet food items – all in clear plastic, of course.
- Check the weather. If there’s a chance of rain, bring an extra clear plastic baggie for your phone.
- Even if it’s cold, bring sunscreen. You can put some in a clear baggie to carry into Churchill Downs.
- Bring extra bobby pins or hat pins. It gets windy in the upper levels.
- If there’s rain make sure to protect your clothing with a clear poncho – clear so you can still see your fabulous outfit! It’s good to note if it rains the dye from the hats tends to leach onto clothes, another good reason to protect them with a poncho.
- If there was ever a time to be “over the top” in regards to an outfit – this is the place to do it. Surprisingly, the one thing I didn’t see much of was cleavage. Other than that, I think the sky’s the limit in regards to the derby dress code. The more effort someone made the more the cameras focused on them.
- It’s worth mentioning that there is weight to the décor on hats. If you have a sensitive neck try to get hats where the décor is on different sides for each day.
That’s all I can think of currently but I’ll add more later. Overall, The Oaks and Kentucky Derby experience was well worth being on the bucket list!