Hats at dawn: Sydney and Melbourne battle for racing fashion supremacy
The horse-racing wars between Melbourne and Sydney’s spring carnivals have begun and the weapons of choice are hats, ties and dresses rather than riding crops – unless they match your outfit.
Formal fashion competitions are returning to the Sydney Spring Carnival after a near two-year absence, hot on the Jimmy Choo heels of the announcement by the Australian Turf Club of a $7 million trackside hospitality facility at Royal Randwick in Sydney called Base Camp, challenging the Birdcage at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.
You can’t have a rival birdcage without feathers, even if they’re sticking out of hats.
Racing fashion expert Laura Dundovic in Mariam Seddiq and Stacey Hemera millinery with ATC member Duncan James in MJ Bale with Tash at Royal Randwick.Credit: Steven Siewert
“Fashion is officially back on track,” says Donna Forbes, head of commercial at the ATC. “There was strong demand for the competition’s return from our loyal racing enthusiasts, racegoers and members of the public.”
Formal fashion judging will take place from the Sydney Surf to Turf Day on September 20 to The Everest on October 18, with the winners announced on Moët & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes Day on October 25.
Racewear enthusiasts had been disappointed by the ATC’s move away from formal fashion competitions, with prizes dribbling down to bottles of champagne before vanishing completely. The decision affected Sydney’s already struggling dressmakers and milliners.
“This will definitely mean that business will pick up again here in Sydney,” says award-winning Potts Point milliner Kathryn Lee. “The majority of my work comes from racing clients. Recently, I’ve been making more hats for Victorian clients than in NSW.”
The categories for the fashion competition at the Sydney Spring Carnival are best suited and best dressed.
“We are doing best dressed, with non-suit ensembles, head-to-toe styling and millinery essential,” Forbes says. “Best suited will be a tailored, creative outfit. Males and females can enter both.”
The gender-inclusive approach follows the lead of the Victoria Racing Club, which broke with tradition by opening its categories in 2022. VRC general manager Kylie Rogers has already committed to a greater profile for fashion on race days at Flemington Racecourse.
“We are proud that racing is the only Australian sport with an internationally acclaimed fashion competition,” Rogers said on the return of fashion competitions to the Autumn Racing Carnival in Melbourne. “Why wouldn’t we tap into that?”
At this year’s Melbourne Cup, the 63-year-old Fashions on the Field competition will return to the front lawn of Flemington Racecourse after 13 years.
“It made absolute sense to have fashion back in prime position,” Rogers says.
In Sydney, fashion judging will take place in a marquee on the Rose Garden Lawn, behind the Queen Elizabeth II grandstand.
“We are still finalising cash and partner support for the prizes,” Forbes says.
Forbes is confident that younger members of the public who prefer blowouts to wide-brimmed hats will continue to embrace the kind of Sydney race days that made last year’s Everest a showcase of fast fashion.
“We’ve got the loyal supporters in the public that can wear their dresses and their runners, but tradition needed to come back.”
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