Ladies' Day at the York Races

Fancy-schmancy

Two weeks ago I got all dolled up (complete with British fascinator) and went to "Ladies' Day" at the York Races. Apparently the big-time horse races come to York for a week every year, and one day out of the week is Ladies' Day. On that day, everyone dresses fancy - women in dresses & hats, men in suit and tie - to enjoy the races. I thought I was dressed quite nicely, but once there realized I was one of the least dressed-up ladies in attendance. When these ladies dress up, they DRESS UP! 

The two other gals I went with (one British and one American) had attended the last four Ladies' Days at the York Races, so they knew what to do. First priority: a bottle of champagne & lots of people watching. Second priority: complementary and snarky commentary on well dressed and tacky attendees. These two hours were worth the price of admission alone. 

Champagne sippin' and people watchin'

I took a few surreptitious photos of a group of well-dressed ladies and uber-fancy hats. 

Pretty ladies

Now that's a hat!

I didn't have the guts to take a photo of any of the tacky outfits, but let's just say lady in the couture silk (?) hot-pants bodysuit with cape won the award. It was extremely hot weather, but even I know you don't wear hot-pants... especially to a fancy British shindig! 

Balcony box seating

We had tickets that allowed us into the nicest spectator section, where we could see the balcony box seats reserved for owners and their families / friends. At one point we were sitting in shaded pavilion seating (did I mention it was really hot?) near a very nicely dressed woman in her 50s and a teenage girl. The race ended with the horse owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber victorious - and five minutes later the woman (Lady Lloyd-Webber) and their teenage daughter were on the jumbotron accepting the 350,000 pound prize money. I was practically rubbing shoulders with an actual "Lady!"

We watched five out of the six races, I bet a few pounds per race and won a few pounds on race number three. All in all, a wonderful day! I'll definitely go back next year!

And they're off!