Kentucky Derby Hats: The Wistful, Wild and Wack
#14 Tamara Sorrell, Austin, Texas
As part of the United State Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby is one of the more popular hat fashion days in the year. Decades ago, it was considered near necessity for men and women to have a hat on at all times during special occasions and outdoor events. Compared to today, to find a lady without a hat on during the first few years of the Kentucky Derby's existence would have been considered a scandal, not just a mere fashion faux pas.
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Jessica Simpson - Loving the Pink
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14:
Tamara Sorrell, Austin, Texas
As part of the United State Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby is one of the more popular hat fashion days in the year. Decades ago, it was considered near necessity for men and women to have a hat on at all times during special occasions and outdoor events. Compared to today, to find a lady without a hat on during the first few years of the Kentucky Derby's existence would have been considered a scandal, not just a mere fashion faux pas.
13:
Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump says, "I vana winner!" Showing off the haberdashery of Kentucky's finest, Ivana reminds everyone who stars into her eyes exactly why the Donald kicked her to the curb.
12:
Amanda Lear, Ruby, S.C.,
These derby hats aren't just made to be fashion statements. The wider the brim you select, the better sun protection you will have during the event. Many of the hats selected for the Kentucky Derby often double as sun safe styles. Tightly woven hats or wide brims made from solid cotton or linen shield your face, neck and shoulders from the damaging effects of the sun's UV rays.
11:
Kim Kardashian
Had enough of Kim Kardashian? We haven't either. Here we see the buxom beauty show off her flair One More Time. Kim says she's enjoying being in a relationship ... again, but we know that she doesn't love anyone more than the person she sees in her mirror.
10:
Jim Leuenberger, Shawano, WI
Within the seated sections of Churchill Downs, you'll find elegant, stylish hats. Generally speaking, women wear wide-brimmed, “Southern Belle” inspired Kentucky Derby hats. The hats can be decorated with flowers, feathers, bows and ribbons of any color to express creativity and individuality. Men's Derby hats are generally solid in color and inspired by the style from the 1920s.
9:
Cyndi Lauper, NYC
The spectacular female fashion often seen at the Kentucky Derby is not solely a product of modern times; rather, opulent feminized dress has played a large role in the history of the Kentucky Derby. What Colonel M. Lewis Clark Jr., (the founding father of the Kentucky Derby), envisioned was a racing environment that would feel comfortable and luxurious, an event that would remind people of European horse racing. For a well-to-do late 19th and early 20th century woman, a day at Churchill Downs, especially on Derby Day was an opportunity to be seen in the latest of fashions. A journalist from a 1901 Louisville Courier-Journal stated, “The seats in the grandstand were filled with gaily dressed women and men. The mass of green, pink, red, yellow, blue, all the colors of the rainbow, blending into one harmonious whole was as beautiful a sight as His Eminence in the lead.”
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Desmona Farlucchi, Brooklyn, NY
What would these women have worn? Perhaps surprising to some, local Louisville women would have had the opportunity to purchase dresses and accessories from a talented group of seamstresses. The dresses in the late 19th through the early 20th century would have emphasized a slimmer bustled silhouette than those of years past. The length of these dresses would have assuredly been long, covering the ankles. Due to the fact that the Kentucky Derby is in the spring, silks would have been a good, warm weather choice. Gloves, hat, and perhaps a parasol were also appropriate choices as well.
7:
Pers Lombardo, Trenton, NJ
Trenton, home of beautiful vistas and Miss Lombardo is still waiting for its close up after being passed over by The Sopranos. Miss Lombardo is trying to figure out who's going to win, who's going to place and who's going to show. From the look on her face, she's stumped.
6:
Winifred Berkeley, Mesa, AZ
Winifred looks so very, very elegant in her chapeau by Moment Delayed, Kentucky's best known hatter. What the hat lacks in volume it makes up for in refinement. Notice how it catches the light streaming in from My Old Kentucky Home.
5:
Julie Sampson, Provo, UT
Julie has a rather ... unusual sense of style. Officially, Kentucky allows people to smoke indoors. They also let people dress as stupid as they wish, as long as they don't scare the horses. Miss Simpson is ample evidence of the former and the later.
4:
Deidre Mason, Burlingame, CA
The infield, a spectator area inside the track, offers general admission prices but little chance of seeing much of the race. Instead, revelers show up in the infield to party with abandon. By contrast, "Millionaire's Row" refers to the expensive box seats that attract the rich, the famous and the well-connected. Women appear in fine outfits lavishly accessorized with large, elaborate hats. As the horses are paraded before the grandstands, the University of Louisville Marching Band plays Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home," a tradition which began in 1924.
3:
Natalie Seef, Boston, MA
Almost everybody's wearing a hat at the Kentucky Derby in 1941. Among the men seems to be an even mix of summer straws and winter fur felts. By the way, Whirlaway was that year's winner. Whirlaway also went on to win the Triple Crown. With regard to hats, the Kentucky Derby might best be known as a day for ladies to show off their fanciest headdresses. However, it is also a great day for men to try on their special summer straw hats to get into the full excitement of the event. It is all part of a tradition that now dates back to the first running of the derby in 1875!
2:
Thomasina Back, Arlington, TX
Tomasina Back, the doyenne of the Arlington fashion scene, goes to Derby day to honor her family tradition. Thomasina is the third member of the Back family to make Derby a regular entry on her social calendar. In fact, the Derby has special memories for her because she met both her first and second husbands at Churchill Downs.
1:
Fiona Shakey, Miami Beach, FL
Who knows the future of Derby hats? It might just be Ms. Fiona Shakey, the powdered sugar heiress from Miami Beach who has the panache -- and the pocketbook -- to pull off most any high fashion look. Fiona was busy plotting her takeover of bluegrass society when she caught the eye of George Rodney, owner of Call Me Nelly, a two-year-old from Ashburn.
