The Winning Homemade Dresses at the Horse Races

The Spring Horse Racing Carnival is underway in Australia. For the second year in a row, the winner in the fashion competition at the Melbourne Cup horse race was a homemade dress sewn by a mother for her daughter. Olivia Moor from Auckland, New Zealand won the women's racewear final of Fashions in the Field. Here she is in her homemade dress.

Olivia Moor in her winning dress
source: nine.com.au 

In a family coup, Olivia’s sister, Charlotte, was this year's runner-up in the fashion competition along with Yvette Hardy. I wonder if Charlotte wore a homemade dress made by her mother too?

Charlotte Moor, Olivia Moor and Yvette Hardy
source: nine.com.au

Last year, Emily Hunter won the Fashion in the Fields competition at the Melbourne Cup Horse Race in a vintage-inspired black dress, sewn by her mother. Here’s Emily in her homemade dress that upstaged the fashion elite.

Emily Hunter, 2015 winner of Fashion in the Fields
source: news.com.au 

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After the 2016 Melbourne Cup Horse Race, the homemade success continued with another fashion competition at the Oaks Day Horses races. Courtney Moore won the Fashion in the Fields in a navy and white outfit. Her mother, a milliner, made her hat which is a hand-wired 3D head piece. Here she is,

Courtney Moore, winner of Fashion in the Fields-Oaks Day
source: www.dailymail.co.uk

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Last October/November I blogged about “The Dressmaker” movie and since then, two mother’s rocked their sewing machines and made their daughter’s winning racewear. It’s wonderful that the homemade dresses were recognized as quality fashion. 

There’s a lot of tradition and history associated with women’s sewing. Once upon a time, in country Australia, grandmothers, mothers, aunties, sisters and friends made wedding dresses for young women. Sometimes daughters wore their mother’s wedding dresses to be married. 

Ready-to-wear clothes made in factories and purchased in shops is a relatively new occurrence of about one hundred years. Before then, a lot of women sewed clothes for the whole family, darned the socks, stitched patches over worn knees and elbows areas in clothes. The last destination for tatty, threadbare clothes was the ragbag. Rags were used for cleaning and made into rag rugs for the floor. Thriftiness was needed in working class families, and also during the years of the two world wars and the Great Depression.

The vintage couture in “The Dressmaker” movie is gorgeous. It’s worth watching the movie for the fashion alone. I recently saw the movie again on satellite T.V. and enjoyed the story of the heroine seeking truth, justice and slow revenge. So sad, I don’t think I’ll get over the romance in jeopardy between Tilly and Teddy.

If you’re interested in reading my 2015 blog posts about “The Dressmaker” movie, here’s the 2 links.

Blog Post #1 The Dressmaker - A Captivating Movie 

Blog Post #2 The Dressmaker Movie Trailer

Maybe I should pull that shirt out of the mending pile, and sew on the missing button. Or restitch the hems on a pair of trousers. But I’d prefer to be sewing dancing costumes or making a quilt. Or writing a book!

Enjoy your weekend. 

♥ Ashlyn