Black vs White

It is so unbelievably racist, ignorant and just plain wrong to look at the looming US election as a White vs Black issue. It's not. I can't help but feel very passionately about the election, and with it now just days away, I am feeling jittery and worried about the future of dear old planet Earth. So, to add some light - but also to remind us that there are issues outside of race at stake here - Tony Grey of Grey PR in New York has developed this image. It's fantastic. [If you can't read the pic it says "Let the issues be the issue"].

The other great black vs white and black/white day is Derby Day - held on Saturday at Flemington, and marking the first day of Melbourne's fabulous Spring Racing Carnival. To attend the carnival is in my list of 100 things to do before I die (I think there's more than 100 things in that list, but the list is constantly evolving). For whatever reason, it is steadfast tradition that black and white be worn on Derby Day, with the flower of the day a blue cornflower (not my pick to go with black & white - but I don't create traditions).

Previous years we've had celebrities in attendance changing outfits (Kate Bosworth in 2006) and prancing about in minimal attire (Paris Hilton - 2005? I can't recall exactly and can't bear googling her). There seems to be a cycle of pushing the boundaries in terms of clothes (and the amount of flesh displayed) - bust, if you will, pun intended - and then a boom, where more conservative garb is preferred. After Paris Hilton jetted out we had a definite, and resounding return to elegance. Thank the lord. This year, judging by some of the outfits, I think we're crawling back to the bust days. The women were slinking around in night-club gear, and Megan Gale for whatever reason decided to channel some S&M chic and showed up with a riding crop. Personally, I don't think she pulled it off. She looks a little like a cross between an air hostess and ... a model carrying a riding crop. Jennifer Hawkins had a gorgeous hat, but I think the Maticevski dress failed her.

Hit? Or miss?

Kate Waterhouse, on the other hand, was a glamourama in Lisa Ho and she got the cute play on the jockey look just right.

Kate is David Jones' racing ambassador, probably because she is (a) gorgeous and (b) Australian racing royalty - the daughter of famed trainer Gai Waterhouse. Here are some gratuitous shots of her in other racing attire:

I own this hat too!

I know it's a little grandma-ish of me to be so conservative when it comes to racewear, but she is so much more elegant and beautiful than the other twerps you see tottering around the racetrack with their bra straps hanging out, fake tans slipping off their shoulders, and g-string viewable through the skin-tight disaster of an outfit.


I am on my high horse (yes, another pun - actually not intended) today because I won fashions on the field at a country picnic race day on Saturday. It wasn't quite Flemington, but it was fun!