Sydney’s top milliners on how to nail your race day headwear

The intricate hats and headpieces are a mainstay of Spring racing fashion— but how do you pick a winning piece? Sydney’s top milliners share their tips on finding the perfect hat.

L to R: Milliners Stacey Hemera Roberts, Viktoria Novak and Ann Shoebridge pictured at Royal Randwick. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The Spring races are one of the last fashion events in the modern world where millinery (intricate hats and headpieces) are not just an accessory, but a requirement.

The tradition dates back to the 1800s, when racegoers would dress in their finest to represent wealth and status, but also personal style.

Viktoria Novak, Sydney’s ‘Queen of the crowns’, notes “they’re also great for holding your hair back in the wind”.

“A lot of people think a crown is a tiara, but it’s not. A crown can be contemporary, modern, timeless, and in so many forms. It can be flat, high, and spiky. And it’s comfortable.”

Each race day has a theme, so her first tip is to pay homage. Everest Day’s theme is blue.

L to R: Milliners Stacey Hemera Roberts, Viktoria Novak and Ann Shoebridge step out on Royal Randwick in hat-to-toe style. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“But don’t sacrifice comfort for the sake of a trend,” Novak warns.

“I’ve tested things out on race day over the years that weren’t quite right. Trust me, if you’re not comfortable, you’re not going to enjoy yourself.”

Ms Novak (left) suggested keeping to the theme, while Ms Shoebridge is a fan of tonal matches. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“As I’m getting older,” milliner Ann Shoebridge prefers a fuller hat with a brim, “because they shade the face and flatten out the skin. They’re also really elegant. On younger women, headbands and crowns look amazing.”

The simplest rule in fashion, Shoebridge adds, is to go tonal. Match the colour and style of the outfit to the headpiece.

“One piece of advice that I always give, is if you’re wearing a hat, or pill box, or boater: Always tilt it over one brow, either to the left or to the right. A slight tilt goes a long way to define your features, rather than flattening out your hair.”

New milliner on the scene, Stacey Hemera Roberts, has been pulling hat tricks at TAB Everest’s launch events and fashion lunches with her showstopping bright ensembles

Stacey Hemera Roberts during the Evest launch

and during Everest Carnival Fashion Lunch.

She works from her handmade hats down.

“I always try to wear something no one else will be wearing,” she said. “It’s all about having fun and being creative. Most people can pull off most things. Think about the whole look.” Smaller hats suit dresses better, she said, and big brims suit a suit.

RACES GIVE FASHION A GIDDY UP

Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann believes spring racewear has more pull on Australia’s fashion zeitgeist than the seasonal collections.

The respected fashion executive believes pent-up pandemic demand is driving retail excitement over big events and fashion moments.

“It is more to do with the purchase power that racing brings,” McCann told Confidential. “People go out and shop (for the races) therefore it drives trends that we wear. It is all very well to have trends on a runway but if people don’t adopt them and don’t wear them, they are not very influential.”

McCann noted that shop windows across Sydney featured the colour blue this week, an indication that retailers were targeting Everest buyers as the theme on the day is ‘a touch of blue’.

Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann Picture: Vogue

Speaking earlier in the week at the TAB Everest Ladies Breakfast, McCann said Australians, and indeed globally, people were “desperate to have somewhere to go and something to do” post pandemic.

“Even my 19-year-old nephew and his mates, and all their girlfriends, are so excited for Everest Day,” she said.

“The girls are more excited about going shopping, though, which I am thrilled about. We forget that it is the only occasion, apart from perhaps a wedding, that people will go out and buy a head-to-toe outfit for and that is really good for the fashion industry.”

McCann added that Covid-19 had significantly impacted the local fashion and retail industries, which are still very much in need of support.

Traditionally, fashion has been driven by designers and their new season collections, which are presented in Paris, Milan, New York, and London.

But with the rise of the internet and social media, a phenomenon called ‘micro-trends’ has started to appear.

Madeline Holtznagel and Simone Holtznagel at the the launch of the Sydney Everest Carnival 2022. Picture: Richard Dobson

“The races are really the most significant fashion event outside of a new season,” McCann said. “And they have probably overtaken new-season fashion, because the nature of fashion is it’s dropped constantly now, rather than in-season. So [Everest Day] is a very important day for the fashion industry as well.”

Joe Farage, of luxury tailored label, Farage, said Australians had missed dressing up.

“The opportunity of Everest and racing generally, having a dress-up culture, it is a great opportunity to do just that. It is time for some fun. Suiting in particular has been on the back seat through Covid, now with racing it is at the forefront. Racing has its own culture and its own dress rules and etiquette, and so it is not so much seasonal but more specific to the racing environment.”

Designer Rebecca Vallance - supplied by her agent

Rebecca Vallance is creative director of her eponymous label.

“Racewear fashion has become a category of its own; and each year I design pieces that are suitable for all the race days across the carnival,” Vallance said. “With the pandemic behind us, we are embracing fun and freedom, with colour and embellishments and exaggerated silhouettes – oversized bows, extreme puff sleeves and ruching.”