Glamour And The Dust - Reflection from Northam Ladies Day (Part One)

Reggie Thei Northam Ladies Day WA Country Cups Heat Winner

Time has quickly passed by since the 8^th of October 2017 when I last had an opportunity to judge fashions on the field as the WA Country Cups representative.
This race meet was at Northam in the Wheatbelt of WA and wow-wee what a fierce competition it was to judge!!!

The 60+ strong entrants did not disappoint in their fashion stakes, all ladies impeccably dressed and ready to show us what they had in terms of confidence, stage presence and sass.

The winner of the day was Reggie Thei who hails from Sydney.  At a last minute whim, decided to head West to catch up with her racing fashion friends and enter the WA Country Cups Northam competition.

Reggie was certainly a stand out on the day – clearly demonstrating that not all racing looks need to be agonised over for weeks before your competition day.  

Spontaneity in this case was King!

Check out the link to her interview with WA Country Cups post her heat win 

http://www.rwwa.com.au/home/media-centre/q-a-with-the-wheatbelt-regional-heat-winner-6597.html

There were many fashion forward ladies featuring on the day.  Many donning my all time fave millinery style of the season - the turban.

I have not yet being able to incorporate a turban into my racing look this year and let’s be honest the time for me is running short, so I hope the turban trend stays strong into next year!

I did however spy the look pieced together brilliantly by Ainslie Jackson and Stacey Reynolds on the day J

L-R Ainslie Jackson and Stacey Reynolds rocking the turban trend with precision... flawless

My other favourite look of the day was Aimee Holmes who never seems to disappoint with her astute, crafty DIY abilities. Gingham being so very much on trend I loved her take on it.

Aimee Holmes not only clever but also super crafty in her DIY Gingham outfit

I was also captivated by the flamingo skirt seen on one of the competitors who made it to top 10 – bringing a fresh Spring vibe to her look, keeping it super fun and flirty - pictured center in the next image.

Northam Ladies Day WA Country Cups Top Ten Fashions on The Field Finalists

The day at Northam did not go without its own set of trials and tribulations. 

Unfortunately my travel companions and I had not ever traveled to Northam previously which is a shame as it is such a beautiful part of Western Australia. We did manage to get lost on our way from Fraser Suites in East Perth and then also on the way into Northam itself – never trust a nav man is all I can say – leaving us all stressed, hot messes on arrival to the track...

Instead of taking us to the racetrack, the heavily relied upon Nav Man was sending us to the airport.... arrggghhh frustration city to say the least!

Sooooo Lost!!!.... Do not trust a nav man! Ever! Give me a map any day...

Bethany Braj

Once at the track, the day seemed to get a little more bumpy for one poor attendee, who had a syncopal episode (AKA a faint for the non medical inclined of the readership) at the fence line. 

Without a designated course doctor in my clear line of sight I thought it were only fitting for me to snap into my usual occupation mode of being a doctor and render some first aid (albeit limited without any equipment and also heavily assisted by my kind friend Bethany Braj, who had recently completed her first aid refresher – what a God send she was J ). 

My usual daily doctoring capabilities focus heavily on obstetrics (pregnant patients and their babies) so unfortunately for the unwell race enthusiast, I was slightly out of my comfort zone and would have been much more confident donning gloves and heading in for an emergency caesarean section – this skill was not required on the day so I was very pleased to promptly hand over patient care to the course doctor who is a long standing experienced GP in town who calmly took control of events and who was the real hero of the day.

All in all, I heard back that with some TLC from the local hospital my patient was fighting fit by the afternoon but unfortunately not in a position to re join us again at the track for more fashion, bets and bubbles.

L-R Nikki Gogan and Sarah McEwan

The next challenge was the judging, which as mentioned above was a feat in itself with so many delightfully, appropriate racing fashion looks to view. 

I would simply love the ability to have been able to speak to each and every competitor about their inspiration for their looks, how they put their looks together and the entire story behind their choices however it is a tricky position as a judge and unfortunately with 60+ competitors time does not allow for such a detailed level of investigation.

Between Nikki Gogan and myself we were left with the tricky task of coming up with the winners. 

This stressful mission was made so much more enjoyable with the fantastic hospitality of the Northam Race Club organisers who were faultless from start to finish.

In fact, of the country race meets that I have been involved in to date Northam certainly do take the cake when it comes to running a slick show and I am not just saying that due to the unexpected, yet wonderful gift bag I received at the end of the meet.   :)

I certainly have made use of the re-usable coffee mug provided and additionally the Veuve Clicquot champagne was very much savoured.

Thankfully finding our way back from Northam was a much less stressful task. A few of my race buddies and I capped off a delightful day with a stellar meal at my favourite restaurant Nobu, at the Crown Casino. 

L-R Ainslie Jackson, Gillian Iannucci, Sarah McEwan

The meal rocked my world – special mention to the salmon with chocolate sauce dish which I still think about regularly almost 2 months down the line – which is a true test of a great meal in my book!

My next blog will cover my outfit inspiration for Northam. The vintage vibe I was aiming for was captured perfectly by Tash Brady from @tellingdesignsphotography and I can't wait to demonstrate our collaboration efforts. 
I feel I kept true to my usual fashion ethos of  collaboration, using collage to visually plan out my outfits and styling and using the resources I have around me to keep to my fashion brief of being environmentally, financially and socially conscious.  In doing so I try to borrow or hire many items,  trawl op shops or raid my Mum's or Grandmar's closet for that extra something special etc.

There are only a few days remaining before the next WA Country Cups Fashion of the Field winner is announced, I am really looking forward to the weekends events, super pumped to catch up with my racing friends for some fun times, bets and bubbles.

Here's to fun times, new friends and fashion....

Love and Light
Glamour And The Dust
xxx

L-R: Lizzie Winlow, Sarah McEwan, Reggie Thei, Nikki Gogan