The Dubai World Cup 2009

There are two words I didn't know until last month that are necessary to understand the following blog post. If you already know these then I am impressed!

Milliner - is a hatter who designs, makes, sells or trims hats and dresses

Facinator - fascinator is a headpiece ,a delicate, slightly frivolous head decoration worn on the hair almost exclusively by women. Modern fascinators are commonly made with feathers, flowers and/or beads. They attach to the hair by a comb, headband or clip.

My actual birthday fell on Saturday, which just happened to be on one of the biggest weekends of the year in Dubai, the World Cup. It is known has the richest horse race in the world, with a $6million dollar purse going to the winner. It's often joked that most people go to the races and nary see a horse, alot of people are purely their for the fashion and social aspect of it all.

I learned last year just how seriously the fillies and stallions (read: ladies and gents) take their fashion at this event so this year I was determined to put together a outfit worthy of a show pony! Two month ago I bid on the chance to have a local milliner make me a fascinator for the event. Karen Hamilton did an amazing job helping me put together the outfit, and made a fantastic hat. In fact she was so generous she even let Lisa borrow one of her pieces just to wear to the races.

We woke up early to get decked out in our finery and soon found out that a hat with 2 foot tall feathers poses a transportation problem. It's been said that beauty is pain, and I can attest that holding your neck at a 45 degree angle for 2 taxi rides should definitely qualify! However the fun of wearing such a big hat was well worth it!

Our friend Joe put out a huge spread and invited everyone over to kick off the day, and we all got to mix and mingle before heading to the race track.

Maybe Matt will wear this to the wedding?

The Fillies

The "Studs" A little wager to make things interesting

Our host Joe

Once we were at Nad al Sheba racecourse Matt and I headed strait to the "Style Lounge". You don't think I did all this for nothing, do you? There is a Best Dressed Lady competition, and the prize is $8,000 and a weeks vacation in Phuket. I had to give it a try!

After registering, and before the competition was to commence the MC mentioned that they had had more entries this year than ever before, over 230 women had entered! The odds weren't in our favor and it had started to rain so I figured that it was going to be a washout in more ways than one! Then, an hour later after we had watched the races and were chatting with our friends they announced the 20 finalists in the competition and I was one of them!

They competition was stiff, and although I tried my best (and by trying I mean standing and smiling as big as possible) but unfortunately was not victorious. As I am sure you can tell by the photos there was some stiff competition! I had alot of fun participating, and any event that means I get to dress up Matt like a Ken doll is worth it to me! Besides what girl doesn't want to celebrate her birthday with a costume party?