This was published 1 year ago
Opinion
PS at the Cup: Hats off to soggy celebs as wind and rain create havoc
Andrew Hornery
Private Sydney ColumnistFor the harbour city, the biggest sporting spectacle of the year is the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Down south it’s the Melbourne Cup – but on a rain-soaked day these seemingly disparate events had more in common than you would think, as the battle of the mad hatters brought all the high drama to Flemington.
Tensions were already high before strong headwinds and torrential rain wreaked havoc on a “flotilla” of bedazzled, feathery creations which attempted to sail down the runway inside a giant marquee that had turned into an instant water feature as the heavens opened. It was millinery mayhem at its finest, as models practically aquaplaned down the runway and the marquee shook and swayed as the winds blew, threatening full lift off.
Huddled around the sides were the die-hard Flemington groupies, the ones who come to watch the Fashions On the Field competition like it’s a grand final. This year the event marked its 60th anniversary.
“She’s blown it!” screeched the lady in the back row, a veteran of the event and wearing what appeared to be a recycled shower cap festooned with pink carnations and carrying an Aldi shopping bag filled with sandwiches and a thermos.
“Part of the criteria is it’s got to stay on your head ... that means practically nailing it to their scalp,” the woman explained, totally deadpan.
But in gale force winds, one could not help but feel disappointed for the model as she scrambled to collect her dainty straw chapeau that had involuntarily launched from her head and was blowing down the runway faster than Australia II.
This year the competition was named in honour of Melbourne social institution, the late Lilian Frank, and was judged by her daughter Jackie Frank, along with Vogue Australia editorial director Edwina McCann and international hat designer Stephen Jones, who had known Lilian for decades.
Souri Sengdara of Velvet & Tonic won the Lillian Frank Millinery Award with this gender neutral work.Credit: VRC
“She would have loved this,” Jones declared, as the winner Souri Sengdara of Velvet & Tonic was announced, having made a quintessentially 2022 “gender neutral” hat worn by a male model.
It was one of the few brighter moments on an otherwise grey and chilly Melbourne Cup. The weather kept the crowds down, and transformed the famed Birdcage enclosure into Flemington’s own Waterworld.
Rebecca Judd at the races.Credit: Getty Images
Guests were “trapped” inside their respective marquees, gathered around the free champagne bars as the annual social convergence was hampered by the weather. Socialites who would normally preen and linger with intent from tent to tent were reduced to a waterlogged dash for cover.
Celebrity swimmer Cody Simpson, most famous for once dating Miley Cyrus, was doing his best to earn his rumoured $200,000 appearance fee. Simpson was enlisted to sing the national anthem before the Cup, and was arguably among the biggest “stars” to turn up to Flemington this year. Sad, but true.
Dispatches from inside the glittering Lexus marquee were again dominated by the mysterious and unpleasant odour which plagued the luxury carmaker on Derby day, despite having hired a specialist scent engineer to deodorise the multi-level gin palace.
Continuing a long tradition started by his late father Shane Warne, son Jackson and his posse of party pals soaked up the hospitality, as did the endless stream of millennial social media influencers who have quickly mastered their way around the politics of corporate largesse, sadly at the expense of the social intrigue their forebears were once known for.
Although it was still old school inside the TAB tent where Michael Photios, former ABC chairman Justin Milne, Brian Lara, Bart Cummins’ grandson James Cummins and Laurie Daley huddled, while the Mumm champagne tent had one of the more diverse line-up of guests, including Rebecca Judd, Matt Preston, Kate Peck, Darren McMullen and Peter Bol, as well as long-distance runner Nedd Brockmann, who completed his historic crossing of Australia on foot last month. Clearly, he’d earned his glass of bubbly.
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