Wearing black and white for Derby Day is as traditional as proposing with a diamond engagement ring and expecting a jolly man with a white beard in a red suit to deliver gifts in December, which is surprisingly not very traditional at all.
The increasingly rigid dress code for the first day of the Melbourne Cup carnival, steering women towards outfits from the dark side and risking grass stains in white, belongs to a long line of advertising success stories.
Supermodel Duckie Thot in the Mumm marquee wearing a suit from Michael Lo Sordo and Nerida Winter hat for Derby Day.Credit: Scott McNaughton
“In 1960 there was an advertisement in The Australian Women’s Weekly calling for women to wear black and white ensembles to the races and win a prize,” says journalist Emily Power, editor of the book Fashion & Flemington. “It was sponsored by the Black & White brand of James Buchanan and Co whisky.”
Diamond giant De Beers manufactured demand for engagement rings anchored with their rocks in the forties, Coca-Cola hijacked Santa Claus, refining his image in advertisements in 1931, but it took stronger stuff to persuade racegoers in Melbourne to abandon colour on Derby Day.
“This dress is code is unique to Melbourne, and it’s not compulsory, the way that a morning suit once was for men,” Power says. “It just took off in the sixties. I think social media has reinforced it as a trend.”
In 2012 Nicole Kidman reinforced the black and white dress code in a tribute to Audrey Hepburn’s ‘My Fair Lady’ ensemble, created by L’Wren Scott.Credit: Photographic
Audrey Hepburn’s black and white outfit in the 1964 movie musical My Fair Lady helped the trend take hold, but up to the late nineties, women in colourful ensembles were still entering Fashions on the Field at Flemington racecourse on Derby Day. If you’re hoping to win the $78,000 prize package for Best Dressed this year, dress according to the wishes of a whisky sales team.
“I’ve always stuck to tradition,” says Fashions on the Field judge and former winner Angela Menz. “You have the rest of the week to go wild. It’s astonishing to see what people can do with black and white.”
Australian supermodel Duckie Thot is playing it safe in a white suit from designer Michael Lo Sordo, although she’s ditching the whisky in favour of Champagne as a guest in the elaborate Mumm marquee in the Birdcage.
“There’s something powerful about wearing a white suit,” says Thot, who is now based in the US. “It’s even more of a statement than a black suit.”
“You just have to be careful with party pies and sausage rolls. When I could smell them, I knew that I was home in Melbourne. I had one in the dressing room and got the hang of eating it while wearing white.”
Lo Sordo designs for Sydney’s caviar crowd rather than the sausage roll set but says you can bring glamour to the races in black and white.
“This isn’t the time to reinvent the wheel so for Duckie’s outfit we were inspired by the strength of Bianca Jagger, making a silk suit to give the masculine tailoring a feminine touch.”
It’s a generous serving of Sydney glamour from the designer who provided the scene-stealing blue dress worn by Ana de Armas as Paloma in the most recent James Bond film No Time To Die. Lo Sordo is encouraging a sensual, less structured approach, for Melbourne women anticipating race days and racier nights.
“Melbourne is a big market for us,” he says. “Even though people think of Sydney as a city of glamour with beautiful beaches, Melbourne has its glamorous side even if it doesn’t have the beaches.”
This time Lo Sordo has followed the racing rules with his white suit, but he sees racewear as an evolving concept.
“I mean what is racewear these days? It’s forever changing and that’s a good thing. You should wear whatever you want, black or white or a colour. Just make sure it’s glamorous.”
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