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Race Day fashion

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The Spring Carnival 2025 Fashion Wrap

From clowns to couture: The best and worst of Melbourne Spring Carnival fashion

Tonal victory and the terrifying return of the evening gown (before midday) mark the strongest style trends this year.

  • Damien Woolnough

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Fashions on the Field: Best suited winner Jenny Beard and best dressed winner Holly Kennan.

Oaks Day best dressed: Pale posers and peacocks in the gilded Birdcage

Real Housewife Dorit Kemsley and racing royalty Kate Waterhouse were clear winners in a crowded field.

  • Damien Woolnough
Fashions on the Field contestants at the Melbourne Cup.

Smile, score and take no prisoners: How to judge racing’s best looks

It’s the front lawn, not the red carpet: The guiding rules of racewear fashion at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

  • Damien Woolnough
Melissa Leong, Rozalia Russian and Kris Smith at the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup best dressed: Nude dress-ups and Peaky Blinders

Melissa Leong let her movie buff loose while models kept it simple in The Birdcage for the day’s style standouts.

  • Damien Woolnough
MIchelle Payne posing with the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse, wearing Leo Lin dress and Lauren J Ritchie hat.

Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne’s next challenge? Fashion

The champion jockey is easing into her role as an ambassador for the Victoria Racing Club having traded her saddle for a stylist.

  • Damien Woolnough
Stylish when wet: Models Mirabai Clark in Alemais and Millinery Jill and Jay Coolahan wearing Couture Menswear.

‘Just ignore it’: Wet-weather fashion advice for the Melbourne Cup

Racegoers are sticking to their spring picks even if there’s rain.

  • Damien Woolnough
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Michelle Monaghan, Pip Edwards and Hannah Dal Sasso on Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse.

Derby Day best dressed: My Fair Lady and gangster vibes the big winners

People love a dress code. “It makes things easier,” says stylist Lana Wilkinson about the tradition of wearing black and white to Derby Day. Here’s who cracked the code.

  • Damien Woolnough
Jean Shrimpton in the Derby Day dress that shocked Melbourne in 1965 and racing commentator Francesca Cumani in a modern interpretation by Australian designer Rebecca Vallance.

The dress that shocked the nation 60 years ago returns for Derby Day

Two Australian designers reinterpret the mini dress worn by Jean Shrimpton to the Melbourne Cup Carnival in 1965.

  • Damien Woolnough
The fresh faces of horse racing: Danish Count Nikolai of Monpezat at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney and social media personality Mary Vitinaros at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne.

Horse racing’s new draw: Instagram models and Euro royalty

Race clubs enlist Danish Count Nikolai and influencer Mary Vitinaros to attract a younger audience, walking a tightrope between luxury fashion and the animal welfare debate.

  • Damien Woolnough
Olympia Valance and her husband, retired AFL plater Thomas Bellchambers started a quirky holiday tradition of buying hats.

‘I don’t want to name names’: Olympia Valance’s biggest red carpet regret

The actor and mother-of-one shares her tips on motherhood style, and the one trend she’ll never wear.

  • Georgie Gordon