L adies and gents dressing in their spring best are as traditional as mint juleps and red roses. Everyone prays for beautiful weather on the first Saturday in May so they can don their Derby ensemble — An outfit months in the making! Since the first race in 1875, fascinators and hats have been a part of the Derby experience, and attending without a hat on race day isn’t just a fashion faux pas, it’s considered downright indecent. Originally marketed as an extravagant event for high-class men and women, the Kentucky Derby is the state’s finest daytime soiree. Everyone comes dressed to the nines in colorful attire and ostentatious headdress — and this May’s fashion will not disappoint. “This year for the Kentucky Derby, we are getting a lot of requests for neon colors,” said Christine Moore of Christine A. Moore Millinery. We refer to these shades as ‘look at me colors,’ which, for an event like the Kentucky Derby — where it is all about being seen — is a fabulous choice!”
Take a look around, and you’re also likely to find ladies wearing hats with sleek bow trims or even more floral prints. With the Derby on the same day as the Coronation, stylists like Moore are also prepared for more sleek and minimalist fascinators. And, as always, we can expect to find the gentleman adorning decorative top hats and fedoras. Part Southern tradition, part fashion runway, spectators don’t attend the Kentucky Derby just for the majestic thundering of hooves — they come for the fascinating fascinators.
“THE IDEA OF THE HAT HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY, WITH COL. MERIWETHER CLARK JR.’S DECISION TO MODEL THE RACES AFTER BRITISH HORSE RACING WHOM HAD A STRICT DRESS CODE FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, INCLUDING HATS.”
- THE KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM
41 DAVIS JEWELERS
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