We caught up with Penny Zygmante from England to tell us about her fun trip to the races in Ireland. With her own blog about fashion at the horse races in England, she’s no newbie to whats expected for a stylish day at the races.
An English Girl In Leopardstown
All week there were ‘what shall we wear?’ ‘what’s the weather going to be (very pertinent for a days racing in Ireland!)?’ and of course the all important ‘what shall we wear on our heads!!’ the talented Irish couture milliner Aoife Hannon was given a brief of orange, teal, grey and gold with feathers and as mad as you dare and I was not to be disappointed!!! Also nails – what colour winter/spring?? A trip to the beauty salon is an absolute must for any Irish girl prior to an outing and each small town/village will have it’s own salon providing good value profession
al treatments.
Suitcase packed I headed for Dublin for the first ever time to attend the Irish Hennessey Gold Cup at Leopardstown, I have been all over Ireland but never experienced the delights of it’s capital. My excitement was immense and all I could mutter on arrival to our penthouse apartment was ‘I can’t believe I am here, OMG, OMG!’ We then made our way around the block to the fabulous bar in the swanky Shelbourne Hotel, what a treat! I thought I would test the barman as I do all over the world by giving him the task of making me a Cosmopolitan, one which I gave him a gold star for as he even very importantly burnt the orange…… that got us started on a VERY long night during which we met lots of equally excited race-goers both English and Irish. In good Irish fashion the ladies in the bar had dressed for the occasion and looked very feminine and classy with just the right amount of cleavage and hemline!
Rather bleary eyed the next morning we started the process of making ourselves look as gorgeous as we possibly could for the day of high fashion and racing ahead. Again questions, questions, hair up/down? gloves on /off? which earrings… then should Aoife wear her fabulous lace leather collar?? Was it overkill?? The answer? YES! But we went for a gorgeous handmade feather brooch to hold her fabulous cape in place. Then the cherries on the top of our outfits were fitted, mine being an explosion of orange feathers with a few teal ones ‘thrown’ in for good measure on a soft grey satin cocktail base finished off with a stunning veiling and a dramatic feather sweeping out the back, well done Aoife!!! Whereas I 
had gone for what I call my ‘racing dress’ a beautifully cut wrap dress from a small boutique in Kilkenny Ireland (one of the many things I love about the green isle is that in every small town there is also a ladies dress shop/boutique that will stock feminine pieces that are just that bit different) that has an array of colour, Aoife had gone for a dramatic black look with her headpiece bringing in the colour in a fabulous deepest red felt saucer beret base with an array of natural plumage bursting out of the top with hints of handpainted gold accessorized with a vintage tan ‘Kelly’ bag and co-ordinated butter feeling gloves. Smokin’ hot!
Dressed to kill we hit the streets, racing handbags attached praying that the weather would be kind, as we passed race-goers whilst in the comfort of our taxi we got a first glimpse of what the ladies would be wearing for the day. Our first impression was that there was far too much sinnamay on heads because in our opinion one should never wear that fabric until after the Cheltenham festival in mid-March, similar to not wearing white before Memorial day and after Labour day. Our second was that they had made a mighty effort with their looks. On entering the racecourse we immediately saw the complex that had been erected to stage the Hennessey best dressed lady, a catwalk, cocktail bar serving Hennessey based glasses of deliciousness and a pamper area for hair and make-up. Here we found gaggles of beautifully turned out ladies waiting expectantly to have their photographs taken. The Irish girls are very clever in that they show off all of their assets in such a way to look sexy without giving it all away, something that the English girls have a lot to learn about! It has a lot to do with their mothers who are very strong of opinion and of wise words and Aoife’s mother is no exception with Aoife always coming out with what her mother would have to say (one of her best is if you have a bit of a tummy, you must ‘hold it in’ the theory being it will learn to do it itself (old fashioned pilates)!! Also shoes, they are gorgeous, high and fashionable but are not ‘no pain no gain’, you rarely see bare foot girls in Ireland whereas in England it is a common sight to see girls circling a pile of unwalkable shoes in their bare feet!!!! What else was most notable was the amount of tailoring which is most flattering, with even the younger girls doing this to great effect – fur as ever was a popular accessory and this finished off the looks perfectly. The vintage look is also very popular and mixed with high fashion really works.
Once we had taken in the sights of the gorgeous ladies, we indulged in what is a very important Irish tradition, that of meat and 3 vegetables prior to racing to prepare one’s body for the days festivities ahead. So there were Aoife and I dressed to the nines sitting down eating our food with 3 typical Irish race going men – who were most charming and gave us a tip for a horse that they have a share in, Pique Sous for the Cheltenham festival in March, which is the pinnacle of National Hunt racing and again a different culture from Leopardstown – on arriving home I looked up it’s form and it looks to have a nice 
chance!! A friend of ours a fierce gambling man who I will call ‘Your man from Ballinasloe’ (YMFB) told me to back Our Conor in the first at 100/30, did I ?? no! so he duly romped home. After a few more fun bets I decided to retire from the gambling life, as felt I it was not my day and we concentrated on yet more fashion.
On closer inspection there were some really inventive and exciting headpieces made from brightly coloured felts, velvets and satins (and yes too much sinamay!). So how disappointed were we when we watched the final line up of 10 ladies and the winner was chosen, head to toe black with a cheap mass produced sinnamay piece on her head! Yes she looked lovely but this was a national hunt meeting and the other ladies were wearing clothes appropriate for the occasion and the winner was not. There were HUGE mutterings over the choice but once the decision was made that was that.
Once the competition and racing was over we all decamped to the fillies bar where there was live music and a DJ. So for a couple of hours we all danced and socialized with all manner of racegoers all of whom love to talk about their winners (not so keen on the losers!). We met the charming owner of Paddy Power bookmakers (one of the largest in Ireland) being very normal a pint of Guinness in hand enjoying a day at the office and also trainer Paul Nolan who had Joncol (3rd)in the big race, discussing his recipe for fresh clams in wine and garlic. Amongst other revelers were lots of my fellow countrymen who were most charming feeding us champagne and compliments (I wish they were like this back in England!) the Irish men are very chivalrous all of the time and will always make sure that us ladies are well looked after and entertained (although can be just that little bit cheeky!!).
We left with a suitable amount of people still partying and headed back into Dublin town to indulge in another food related tradition, early supper. This is like a pitstop to partying…. It was after this that we returned to the bar of the Shelbourne for more cosmopolitans followed by a late night visit to the New Buck Foleys townhouse nightclub a Dublin institution.
The next morning we looked back at our day and night and decided we had experienced a full day of Irish racing and lived the culture of après racing. Next stop Cheltenham the home of National Hunt racing in March.
