Something unexpected happened this year in the world of Fashions on the Field, Sydney. The Australian Turf Club announced they had split ties with long-term fashion sponsor Myer after negotiations to renew Myer’s contract failed.

The question on my lips?

What would happen to the Myer Fashions on the Field NSW State Finals? They are usually held at the ATC’s Royal Randwick racecourse!

In the weeks that followed, both Myer and the ATC revealed their ideas on doing something a little out of the ordinary with their fashion competitions…

For the first time ever, Myer was going to hold their FOTF state final in a shopping mall! Meanwhile, the ATC decided to ditch the traditional catwalk based fashion competition in favour of a social-media based photo competition! And the ultimate complication?

Both competitions were to be held on the same day! October 8th.

“Can I make it to both events?” I thought.

The cogs started to turn…but before I get into my personal experience with The Amazing Race, here’s a brief overview of the structure of each event.

Myer Fashions in the Mall

The Myer competition was held at Pitt St Mall, outside the entrance to the Myer store.

There was a sectioned off area, which included the judges table (suitably decorated with beautiful flowers), some white bench seats for an audience and a small stage.

The prize pool was valued at over $16,000, with the winner enjoying a 10-day trip-of-a-lifetime to Spring Carnival valued at $10,000, and a $3,000 Myer shopping spree!

They would also be crowned the NSW state representative and have a chance to win the Lexus sports car at the National Finals. Nice.

Royal Randwick Photo Competition

On the other side of town, the Royal Randwick had a slightly different setting, one with horses (!)

Entrants had their photos taken by renowned fashion photographer Sonny Vandevelde in a booth named the Fashion Chute. The space was complete with mirrors and dangling champagne-inspired bubbles and beads.

It took only a minute and then entrants could go about enjoying a day at the races. Later in the afternoon, the 6 finalists were sent text messages which welcomed them back to parade their outfits in front of the judges.

The prize pool had a value of over $75,000, including a black BMW 220i convertible valued at over $65,000! Double nice.

The Amazing Race – Sydney Edition

The Game Plan

The Myer FOTF registration was open between 11:30am and 12:30pm and you couldn’t pre-register. The Randwick photo booth was open from 11am to 2pm, with winners notified at 2:30pm.

I scribbled down a rough schedule. Attending both events seemed do-able.

Google maps was telling me the drive would only take 17 minutes, but I was worried Google might be a “glass half full” kinda guy. A second opinion from some Sydney friends suggested more like 40 minutes to an hour and I started to think my timing might not work out.

If traffic was bad and the photo booth was busy, I would be cutting it very fine.

Panicky by nature, I hate being rushed and traffic is out of my control. But I decided to give it a try anyway, and create my own edition of the Amazing Race through the Sydney CBD.

The Amazing Race-Day

My friend Chrissy and I stayed at a lovely Air BnB in the heart of Surry Hills (a 5 minute walk to Messina ice cream I may add, AND, they had a really cute old cat that I spent a lot of time fussing over).

Our hairdresser, Pauline, arrived at 6:45am and she completed both our do’s by 9am.

Off to Royal Randwick Racecourse

At 10:20am, we caught an Uber to Randwick and arrived at 10:45am. Already people were lining up at the gates.

Nothing like an early morning ‘pap ;)

We were first to the booth. No thanks to the 6 different staff on reception who couldn’t tell us where the booth was!

The booth (named the Fashion Chute) was set up on the lawn. It was a silver mirrored box with hundreds of crystal baubles hanging from the ceiling designed to look like Champagne bubbles. A cute touch.

We registered, had a photo taken and were out of there by 11:20am.

Photos were sent to our phones, which made a nice keepsake of the day, even though I hear some women were receiving photos of other entrants and vice versa, but I suppose mishaps are hard to avoid with a new event.

Here’s a photo of me wearing my Night Garden Dress. If you’re interested you can watch a video of how I made this outfit.

Across town to Pitt St Mall

We called an Uber and told him to step on it to Pitt St Mall, but turned out the traffic was fine and we got there in 20 minutes (all this panic for nothing doh’).

We registered for the Myer Fashions on the Field. There weren’t many contestants but there were quite a few familiar faces.

In total, I think 18 girls turned up. But there was no lack of spectacular outfits. The judges were in for some tough decision-making!

By 12:30pm there were quite a few onlookers, the general public wondering what was going on. It’s not every day you see a bunch of women in hats and fancy get up’s in a mall.

The heats were quick because of the small stage and limited entrants. All over in 20 minutes.

The top ten were announced after a slightly drawn out break and then the three winners.

It just felt like a bit of an anti-climax..without the usual masses of fabulously dressed ladies and countless heats, it really didn’t feel the same.

Chrissy came third in a cream pencil dress she made herself with added sequin embellishments to the sleeves and back, her structural copper headpiece by Joanna Roberts and added feather flowers with gold leafing by Peacock Millinery.

Carle Rutledge placed second in a peach finish powder pink off the shoulder dress by Asilio and purple boater by Madam Hatter.

Image credit: @madamhat

Reggie took out the NSW title (she is also from NSW horah) in a blue, white and black layered stripe skirt she made herself and powder blue ruffled off the shoulder blouse.

Reggie will now compete in the National Finals on Crown Oaks Day in Flemington! You can see who she’s up against in the 2016 Spring Racing Fashion Trends Report.

Image credit: @t_p68

By the time it was over it was 1:30pm and we had to leave ASAP.

Back to Royal Randwick

Chrissy and I jumped in a taxi, and again with not much traffic, made it back in 20 minutes.

The FOTF women who were there primarily to compete, were all standing around the photo booth area eagerly awaiting a text message. Every time a phone beeped everyone jumped to look at their screen. It was now around 3pm.

Image credit: @allison_voight

The 6 finalists who had received a text showed up to the booth. 5 women and 1 man were taken to the stage where they were judged and the winners announced.

Image credit: @ontrackontrend

Eleanor Campbell from NZ placed second runner up. She wore a navy and white striped full skirt, white blouse and matching navy millinery by Bellinda Haase with gold accessories.

The dapper man in the pink suit jacket was first runner up.

And the lovely Amanda Macor first!!

Image credit: @eleanorcampbell

Amanda’s dress was custom made by Russian designer Svetlana Michalenko and millinery by her favourite hat maker Ian Bennett. She added pom poms and silver tassels to her silver shoes.

Image credit: @ontrackontrend

I think we all need to take a moment here to appreciate her fabulous hair do she had styled the night before and slept in it and it looked amazing- not a hair out of place!!

I absolutely love this photo. It perfectly captures an unforgettable moment!

Image credit: @atc_races

Here are some other contestants whose outfits I adored- you can check out the whole gallery here.

Pros & Cons of Each Event

Having now experienced both types of events first hand, here are my pros and cons for each event:

Pitt St Mall Pros

• Not many competitors – so those of you out for a win have a higher chance.
• You can quickly duck to the shop if you forget anything – I actually forgot to pack a black clutch and bought myself a nice Olga Berg clutch.
• You can attend just to compete and go about your day afterwards- and by this I mean probably go home, as everyone tends to stare at you when you’re in a mall wearing a fancy dress and hat.
• If you plan ahead, you can book your hair and makeup to be done in the mall to reduce travel.
• There is no entry fee at the mall like there is at the races.
• There is a proper judging panel and stage to show off your ensemble.
• Did I mention there were miniature ponies?! That’s ten points right there.

Pitt St Mall Cons

• The general public stared quite a bit, not knowing what was going on.
• There wasn’t much of a turn out so the community aspect was gone and you couldn’t make many new race friends.
• The event was over quickly.
• There weren’t many paparazzi around (if the highlight of your day is getting pap’d).
• You couldn’t hang around afterwards like you do at the races – go for a drink, see friends, place a bet, etc.

Randwick Pros

• You don’t spend your whole day at the fashions area and can go off and enjoy the day with friends.
• You get messaged a copy of your photo-booth photo.
• BMW!!!!

Randwick Cons

• It is so hard to judge from a photo- I heard a few ladies say their outfit didn’t photograph well or show off the finer details. Also some details were on the back, which weren’t photographed.
• There isn’t a set number of men or women in the finals.
• Men and women are judged in the same competition- some say it is better to have a men’s and women’s category.
• If your phone runs out of battery and you don’t receive your finalist text message then you miss out big time.

I found details in white outfits were hard to see in the photo and lost their effect.

Closing Thoughts

It’s hard for me to say which event I would attend if I was to go next year.

While I feel the racecourse setting provides a better atmosphere and fun day out with friends, I don’t think I would spend so much time and effort on my outfit knowing it would be judged amongst a sea of 200+ contestants from a quick photo.

I saw many amazing outfits miss out on the finals. In saying that, I loved the top 6 too, but feel it doesn’t have the same effect when you can’t get on stage and parade all your hard work and styling.

If you enjoy the races and what they have to offer as a fun day out, go to Randwick. If, on the other hand, you are all about the fashions and want to have a chance to make it into the national finals, choose the Myer event.

As the years go on I am sure it will gain popularity and Myer will think up more attractions to pipe up the event.

Did you attend either event? What do you think about the new photo competition format or mall setting? Let us know in the comments below.

Here are some comments from the ladies in our Field Fashion Community Facebook Group:

“I watched at Pitt St. I thought it was a shame to have people enter dressed up in a mall setting. I thought they were really trying to “draw out” announcing the winners probably because they expected more entries. I also didn’t like the small podium you had to walk around, some posed on the back side of the stage others just simply walked off. Everyone looked lovely though.”

“I didn’t attend either of the two FOTF events in Sydney. From all the photos the girls looked amazing. For me personally I don’t just attend the races for fashions – I love the vibe, horses and catching up with friends. I feel having this event at a mall takes away the ‘racing’ fashion and the atmosphere I love!!”

“Everyone looks fabulous, but thinking of the idea to parade in the shopping mall, I’ve lost the interest to attend the FOTF. If next year Myers and Randwick are going to continue the way they are , I would prefer to go interstate than to stay in Sydney.”

“I’m still unsure what I feel about the whole fashions on the field….in the mall…. I understand it’s a competition at the end of the day but FOTF has so many traditions and history I feel like it’s doing it an injustice to take it away from the the place it derives its name and legacy from….”

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