Fashion Flashback: A Decade of Angela's Caulfield Cup Style

in , ,
This year will be the 10th year I've attended the Caulfield Cup. Each year (with one exception) I have entered the Chadstone Fashion Stakes. Until the last couple of years I lived in Canberra, so attending was a pretty serious commitment to attending a raceday and fashion competition. I'll also add I have never won anything at the Caulfield Cup Fashion Stakes- in 2006 I was a heat winner and went into the daily final, but otherwise I have never made it past the first round. Despite my lack of success at the Chadstone Fashion stakes, I've always had a great day out at the Caulfield Cup and have many great memories over the years. This year will be my 10th Caulfield Cup and I can't wait! As I type I have nothing planned yet for my outfits, but lots of ideas swimming around in my head. Here's a little flashback of my outfits over the years...caulfield cup 2006This outfit had a very loose Japanese inspiration. The bolero is stitched to the dress and was a Japanese craft fabric. The red part is gathered silk satin which I wore with red satin shoes. I still like this outfit, but am alarmed at my eyebrows here. Thank god they grew back... This day I kept having drunk people yelling at my satellite dish hat and when I walked on the lawn for all of 50 meters  someone spewed in front of me and someone else tried to pull my hat off my head. Caulfield has since dramatically cleaned up it's act...caulfield cup 2007 4
This is one of the few times I have worn my hair out at the track. I had just discovered a good blow dry bar that I could just walk in without an appointment. This hat is one of my favourites and is a shape I use quite a bit in my millinery work. The dress has the back cut out as I though it looked too matronly otherwise. I later wore this outfit at the Pakenham Cup where I won Fashions on the Field.10644434_10152648728594733_8790494741843897095_n10687076_849714135047155_2279519791430413627_nLast year I was running on empty trying to get my outfit together. I was really happy with how it turned out though. My dress is made from fabric I had purchased in Singapore. It comes from the same place where some of the Chanel tweeds are made. The black straps are ruffle elastic and there is black wool trim around the hem. The lace petticoat is actually curtain lace and if you look underneath you can see the holes to attach curtain hooks. I couldn't find any normal lace I liked in my budget, but was really happy with this lacey find. The hat was one I'd worn earlier in the year to Epsom Derby in the UK. Its made from vintage braid, glitter and feather quills. I added the veil for Caulfield Cup. This dress has since become part of my regular wardrobe and has been worn a number of timesNow i'm up to 2015 and my 10th Caulfield Cup. You'll have to stay tuned for this years outfit! I'll update this post after the event.UPDATE-IMG_9614For 2015 I decided to re-wear a dress I made for Royal Ascot earlier in the year. I was really happy with how it turned out and felt comfortable wearing it. Made from an orange sherbet coloured mesh, bonded nylon, the hemline was a long lantern shape with a fitted bodice. My hat was a black leather percher with curled turkey feathers. I kept my accessories pretty simple with a gold belt (I actually wore the same belt to the Caulfield Cup in 2013) and a necklace i'd picked up on a work trip to China. My shoes were a sample pair given to me by a factory I work with and were perfect as lace up shoes are a key trend for the season. Keeping up with tradition I bombed out of the Fashion Stakes in the first round. I especially can't wait to see what everyone else is wearing- I'll be there again taking snaps for On Track On Trend.By Angela Menz

Sofitel Girl's Day Out 2015

in
Sofitel Girl's Day Out at Flemington, was the raceday that marked the start of spring carnival. After freezing through the week in Melbourne and waking up to drops of rain, the weather gods decided to come on board and brought a beautiful sunny day. With my VRC membership freshly renewed I decided to check out the Young Members cocktail party with my partner Pete. This VRC young members event was themed "Where the Royals Play' hence the giant throne where we took photos.IMG_8081If you are a VRC young member and haven't been to any of the young member events before, then I suggest you hot foot it to the next one... or if you have a friend who is a member, then ask them to sort out your ticket! Held over two levels the cost is minimal and includes entertainment and an abundance of finger food. My personal highlight of the catering was a lolly bag station which I visited an embarrassing number of times. I was very sad to miss seeing Sam, the Bachelor as Pete and I were too busy making little bets at the TAB. (No wins for me for the whole day either! Pete fared much better...) Overall everyone was really well dressed and I took photos of a few hats that caught my eye.
Outfit Details-I was keen to try out a new pattern I'd made durng the week so when I got home from work on friday I sewed my dress and made a headband. I used fabric and trims I already had from other projects so the cost was very minimal. My outfit was put together with a 60s silhouette in mind. I wanted to be able to enjoy my day without fussing over my outfit so made a dress I could eat and sit in (something which FOTF outfits often don't really allow for). It don't think it photographs well at all, but it is made from a synthetic raffia type fabric for the bodice with the  skirt part in a coated cotton with a silk organza overlay. The flowers under the bust and on my headband were beaded and sequined accessories that I pulled apart.DSC_0707 DSC_0742By Angela Menz