I’m finally home from yet another incredible Melbourne Cup week at Flemington Racecourse. I almost need a holiday from my holiday! It is, seriously, a full-on week.  I attend Derby, Cup and Oaks Day, plus I host the yearly Field Fashion Meet Up in between.

It’s always fun to compete in the Myer FOTF competitions and see my fellow race enthusiast friends…and this year I even came away with two Top Tens and a 3^rd place sash! Hooray.

Here’s the recap of my week…

Getting There

Off to the airport on Friday afternoon with two suitcases (35 kilos), a garment bag and hat box in tow- a trolley is necessary.

Now, from experience, staff have a habit of giving anyone with a hat box a hard time. I always manage to actually get my hat box on the plane, but every time there is a struggle over whether or not it will be allowed. It’s at this point that I start my spiel about how I’ve been travelling on airplanes for the past seven years with these hat boxes and try to assure them it is fine!

When travelling with Jetstar you are allowed two items of carry-on luggage (your handbag did not use to be included as an item, but now it is) so when they told me I had three pieces (handbag, garment bag and hat box) I zipped my handbag inside my garment bag and said, ‘now I only have two!’ They accepted me. And my bags. I needed wine by the end of this ordeal.

All flights were delayed three-hours, due to terrible winds in Melbourne. Luckily, Anna was with me to indulge in a nice red and some hot chippies while we waited.

Derby Day 2018

This year, Derby Day was my favourite Day of the carnival. I absolutely loved my outfit.

I had a hat made by Louise Macdonald who lives in Melbourne, so I didn’t actually get to see my hat till the night before Derby Day, when Louise dropped it off.  It was the biggest hat box I’ve ever seen before in my life!! I am writing a separate blog on my race day outfits next, so I won’t go into too much detail here.

The morning of, I had four fellow race enthusiast ladies come over to the Air BnB I was staying at in Footscray. My hair stylist I use every year, Rozi, came and did all of our hair. She does the most incredible up-styles and can make anyone’s hair look big and voluminous.

My hair is only shoulder length, but Rozi can make it look like I have super long hair!

It’s Melbourne, right? So, the day started out with torrential rain. Then it changed to cloudy and a little on the cool side. Then it changed again and it was nice and sunny by the time we got to the track!  It was the best weather out of all the days- perhaps another reason why it was my favourite day.

The Fashions on The Field wasn’t quite as busy as other years, but there was still no shortage of amazing outfits! Some of my favourites are shown below.