Being the most glamorous girl at the gallops requires as much preparation as any trainer with their sights set on winning a group 1 race.
For entrants of the fashion competitions at Flemington and Caulfield, the moment of judging is the climax of months of preparation – first choosing a theme, then engaging a milliner and dressmaker, and finally selecting the optimal accessories.
Flemington’s Myer Fashions on the Field and Caulfield’s Chadstone-backed equivalent are Australia’s richest and most prestigious style titles.
From cigarettes, hosiery and chocolates in the early days to a modern prize purse of luxury cars, overseas holidays, dazzling jewellery and shopping sprees, Fashions on the Field booty now tops $400,000.
Over its 50-year history at Flemington, shop assistants to lawyers, students and emerging models have won Fashions on the Field in everything from home-sewn ensembles to European designer garb and locally tailored couture.
To stand out among thousands of well-heeled women and drive home in a Lexus convertible (to which the national winner at Flemington is treated), a military-style level of planning is essential. Fashion competition judges – editors, socialites, milliners and designers – emphasise individuality and the old-school pillars of deportment, such as grooming and poise.
Judges even consider an outfit’s weather appropriateness as part of the criteria. A vaporous silk frock on a stormy afternoon at the track, for example, will certainly spell elimination.
Serious entrants are known to prepare up to three outfits – one for a sunny day, one for a cold snap and another vintage, in case the mood strikes – for the major spring carnival days. The yearly investment can run into the tens of thousands of dollars for the so-called serial contestants, for whom the competition is their racing raison d’être and more than just a casual hobby.
Fashion journalist and former style scribe for The Age, Janice Breen Burns, has judged at Flemington for more than 30 years and at Caulfield since the mid-1990s. Breen Burns says all winners have shared a fastidiousness, from hats down to heels.
“There are so many contestants who are paying attention to grooming that you notice the slightest scuff on a shoe or a wrinkle in a hemline,” she says.
Fifties glamour, such as full skirts with nipped-in waists, has been the dominant racewear silhouette over the past decade, Breen Burns observes. However, she says more entrants are now opting for a modern spin, such as a ’60s neon shift with a collectible Chanel plastic jacket.
“I honestly don’t think in the 30-odd years I have been judging that the genuinely best-dressed woman has won, because there are so many different opinions – it is so subjective,” she says.
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SPRING RACING: Tables of tempting trackside taste treats
SPRING RACING: Arriving in style
SPRING RACING: Fashion trifecta
Flemington Fashions on the Field judge and former design winner David Medwin, whose couture clients at his Toorak salon include prominent horse owners, says his eye is captured by a contestant who blends spring’s trends with tradition.
A structured hat and not a flimsy fascinator is another must in Medwin’s rule book.
“If the person who is entering has started with an unusual or smart colour from what is happening in Europe, I look for that first,” he says. “I think that things can be fashionable but not to be in the extreme, not to be outrageous and stray into costumery. The fine line is there.
“I am very much for hats. I don’t mind if they are big or small hats, I am just not very keen on a bit of feathers stuck behind the ear.”
Designer Jenny Bannister, an adjudicator at Caulfield and a long-time Flemington racegoer, declares “table-top dancing shoes” and “cocktail hour” dresses are unforgivable faux pas.
For Bannister, tailored, knee-length frocks with covered shoulders are more on the money. “Think elegance and get some role models in place, like Grace Kelly or Audrey Hepburn, and have a theme – it’s a great way to stay on track,” Bannister says.
“When entrants are not 18 and not a model, I like to see them in a dress coat and a really good hat that works with the clothing.
“You can add a bit of chrome or brass on the shoes so then it is modern but not disco.”
The judging criteria for glamour at the gallops:
- Overall style and originality
- Appropriateness for the season, the race day and the individual
- Attention to detail with accessories
- Understanding and interpretation of current fashion trends
- Deportment and grooming
For more stories on Spring Racing Carnival 2013, visit theweeklyreview.com.au
