What brought you to the Breeders Cup at Del Mar? I love the races, especially the fashion that you only see at the races. And Breeders Cup is so special, not just because it has a California feeling, but everyone really dresses to the nines! 

 

What is or was your favorite part about attending the event? Winning the Longines Prize for Elegance for the second year in a row was amazing!! But it was also so much fun to see my husband win his first on Saturday. Other than that, I love the people watching, swapping hat stories and milliner recommendations and enjoying the gorgeous California scenery.

 

How would you describe the style of racing fashion?  California racing fashion has only recently started to catch on to where folks in the south east have been sporting it for years. I love seeing it develop into a style of its own, as people figure out what it means to be racing in California. For that reason, it feels like anything goes, from the very traditional to the very avant-garde like we see in Australian racing fashion. 

 

What do you look for when selecting your millinery?  I am obsessed with a show piece. I want something with a really different shape and love to go with bright, interesting colors. I also love a sharp, dramatic angle!

 

Both of your outfits were amazing for the event. Tell me about the winning outfit on Friday: Friday’s winning outfit started with the Country Peonies orange percher. I spotted it on her page maybe 9 months ago and decided I had to have it. The shoes came next (they were Christian Louboutin, and a gift from my husband for our 3rd anniversary), and I thought hey would look incredible with the hat so long as I found the right dress. I added the Peggy Hartanto dress in June, and actually had to have he side panels put in to match the mesh in the front, and give me a little more room to breathe. 🙂 the best part of the dress was the pockets and the incredible weight of the fabric! Last came the little half-gloves, of which I’d seen similar ones in Australian race blogs, and the amazing sparkly crystal bird bag from Fawziya (both of which I found on Amazon, of all places). The outfit made me feel like a celebrity in the 1950’s. 

 

Your Saturday outfit had such a fun almost vintage feel to it- tell me how you came about that style?  I wasn’t actually expecting to win Friday so Saturday was actually the outfit I thought was going to win for me! The hat was purchased first, and that was a Lisa Alexander that I saw on her site and fell in love with. I paired it with a Mikael Aghal dress I found on Outnet, and red, black and silver glitter Christian Louboutin shoes I’ve had for years. I added a pair of little red half gloves and black ark purse (both from Amazon) and used the shoe bag from my shoes inside the bag to create a cool red and black effect. I also did my hair in a really vintage style to bring the whole look together. It felt very 1930s or 1940s. It’s a time period where little details were always used to make simple outfits pop, so I really focused on the details.

 

So you have won two years in a row now…what is your advice to other ladies putting together their raceday outfit?Don’t be afraid to go way over the top, especially with hats and accessories. I love dramatic shapes and pieces that are interesting to look at, so I never get hats that look anything like something I’ve ever seen. I want to stand out so I always aim for the unique. 

 

What is the next race meet we will see you at?We are attending our first Kentucky Derby in May and I am so excited. I’ve already started working with milliners for pieces for both days of racing!