It’s hard to believe the Galway Races are over for another year. Yet another great week of beautiful millinery, fashions on the field and I guess there was some horse racing thrown in there too! Ladies Day is the main event and you are guaranteed to see the best the Irish racing set have to offer.
I’ve only been to Ladies Day twice before and the first time I wasn’t really aware of the scale of it all. But last year I went with my best friend, Emily of Emily O’Regan Millinery, and I was able to experience the magic of the fashions on the field first hand. And it was amazing. The ultimate in people watching and style hunting! We were even lucky enough to win the Best Hat competition at the G Hotel with the piece Emily made for me. The prize was a beautiful Phillip Treacy creation worth over €4000! Yeow!
When your best friend is a super talented milliner, prepping for Ladies Day is very exciting. There’s plenty of outfit research and planning and to and fro-ing on what’s likely to catch the judge’s eye but is still true to your own style. After perusing pages and pages of delicate, proper “lady” dresses, I consulted with Emily and decided to go in a completely different direction and opt for a look that was more ‘me’.
I’m a bit obsessed with wearing dresses and tunics over pants these days so I thought I’d go for a dressier take on that trend. I found a gorgeous strapless dress with a great structured shape on Nasty Gal (similar here and here) and then found white flared trousers in Zara on a trip to Dublin (similar here). Emily had an awesome idea for a hat that was going to work with the look, so that was that! It’s great when you find dressy pieces that are a) on sale and b) things that you know you’ll get the chance to wear again. Plus I already had accessories to compliment the look which was handy. Purchases totally justified!
We had such a fabulous day even though we didn’t take home any prizes this year. Emily and I were joined by fellow Aussies, Ruby and Brittnee, and we made quite the team! #SQUADGOALS! Emily was our lucky charm after winning not one, but THREE Facebook competitions which scored us entry to the racecourse as well as two bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne! That coupled with our beautiful, custom head wear definitely put a spring in our steps!
I’d say I’m already pumped for 2016, but as Emily is moving back home to Australia at the end of the year, I’m not sure it’ll be quite the same! Better start planning my outfit early to see whether Australia Post is reliable enough to get a custom Emily O’Regan creation to me on time…
Was anyone else racing this year or have any tips and tricks for nailing fashions on the field? I’d love to hear them so be sure to leave them in comments below!
