Tuesday, November 6, 2012

A Day at the Races

 


Hello every one and welcome to my new followers.

Today I have decided to give you a little taste of Australian Culture. Whilst you have all been busy with your pumpkins and and witches we have been preparing for one of our biggest and most glamorous sporting events......The Melbourne Spring Racing carnival. There are six major Horse Racing events that make up the carnival. The Caulfeid cup, Cox plate, Derby Day pronounced Dar -bee, The Mebourne Cup, Oaks Day and finally Emirates stakes day.





The last four races are held over one week with Derby Day opening the Melbourne cup week. Derby day is considered to be the most prestigious days of racing in Australasia with four races in the elite group 1 level. The Fashion is almost as important as the Horse racing it's self and black and white is traditionally worn on the day. It is, for a lot of us, all about the out fit and many going to great lengths and expense to coordinate Hats, dresses, handbags and of course shoes. The hat is the central focus of the ensemble  often a work of art in it's design. Many of our major corporations position Marques with elaborate furnishings and catering the most prestigious being the Emirates Birdcage with a guest list of  Australian and international celebrities. This year our most famous visitor was our own lovely Nichole Kidman dressed in an Audrey Hepburn my fair lady inspired out fit.





Here are a few pictures i have taken from the internet to show you a small sample of the beautiful fashions of the day.










I thought I had better add in some mens fashion but I must say there are no where near the amount of mens fashion images as women's.




Today is Melbourne Cup day and you may have heard we have a holiday to mark the occasion. Yes thats right, a holiday for a horse race! The Melbourne cup is the highest prize money of all the races offering $3,600,000 for first place. Makybe diva being the most successful consecutive winner of the cup three times in a row. Most amazing because she was a mare and still one it with extra weights in the last race.



The fashions for  cup day are more vibrant and the general atmosphere is very festive. Oaks day is considered ladies day and the tradition is to wear brightly coloured frocks.













Finally I will leave you with some photos of the Flemington Roses that are a beautiful spectacle and are famous for marking the season. My apologies for some double up on the images and i hope you didn't mind me slotting in a picture of yours truly with my handsome husband.