Well sports lovers, it is that time of the year! The 136th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville is upon us. Also known as the “Run for the Roses” and “The most exciting two minutes in sports,” the Derby is also a red carpet cocktail party for social shooters – and Julia Roberts if Richard Gere can sneak the femme fatal in this year.
The Derby has seen its share of unforgettable fashion throughout the many decades. Women in fur wraps and ribbon brimmed hats; men in dapper three-piece pinstriped suits, polished with boutonnières, handsome handkerchiefs, and cigars.
In the 1920s, hip flappers wore flowers as corsages on their jacket lapels; it was in the 1940s and 50s that the migration to hats happened.
No, you can’t think about the Derby without thinking about hats. The Derby hat parade happens inside Churchill Downs. And a hat parade indeed it is. The more peculiarly eccentric the hat, the better, or so it seems. An unspoken rule.
Roses too have played a starring role in the Derby’s delicious pageantry, both on the track and in Millionaire’s Row. It became the official flower in 1925. Then, in 1932 the first red rose garland was given to the winning jockey.
The post-war prosperity of the 1950s saw a renewed passion for fashion in the grandstands, with chic skirts and petticoats and beautiful hats and gloves de rigueur. Pill box hats, smart Jackie O suits, cool thin ties and sunglasses were all the rage in the 60s.
The 70s, well you know what that looked like! The debut of mini dresses and bold patterns everywhere: stripes, checks, and seersucker. Hemlines went up and continued even higher in the 1980s.
These days, Derby Divas do their thing off of the track for the title of best-dressed spectator in this glitzy glamorous, bobmardment of bling, red carpet episode of the South.
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