If the Mad Hatter could only see this - then again Lewis Carroll, born January 27, 1832, Daresbury, UK, died January 14, 1898, Guildford, UK, did have an overlapping life with the Kentucky Derby, born 1874 and continuing 2018.
By my math Carroll and the Derby shared the Earth for twenty-four years. Maybe those hats were inspired by Alice's Wonderland.
These are my Derby favorites over the years followed by the Fox News version of the History of Derby Hats.
Kentucky Derby hats
through the years, from the boldest to brightest
A race fan checks her phone
before the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in
Louisville, Kentucky, May 5, 2012. (Reuters/Jeff Haynes)
It’s off to the races for Kentucky Derby fans. And
those truly committed to the May event know that the fashion -- particularly
women’s hats -- is just as important as the thoroughbreds racing.
From the beginning, fashion was associated with the
Kentucky Derby as Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., who founded Churchill Downs,
hoped to make the race a high-class event, according to the Kentucky Derby notes
on its website. But the hats didn’t really come into play until
about the 1960s “when social fashion norms loosened up and the presence of
television gave women a reason to stand out,” the Derby said.
Hats are also supposed to bring
good luck.
The Kentucky Derby says it doesn’t have any “hard
and fast rules” when it comes to apparel, but the event is a chance for every
woman’s Southern belle to come out with pastel dresses, bows and Lilly Pulitzer
prints. For the hats, the Kentucky Derby suggests those in seated areas of
Churchill Downs wear more traditionally southern, wide-brimmed hats. But in the
infield area, where the parties happen, hats tend to be a little more curious.
Recently, thanks in part to Kate
Middleton, fascinators have also become a trend at the Kentucky Derby.
Men, too, typically, don their
best pastels, seersucker and floral print bow ties. But the gentlemen can wear
hats as well.
Here’s a look at some of the more
extravagant -- and unusual -- hats worn at the famous horse race.
A patron wears a derby hat before
the 2017 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. (Reuters/Mark Zerof - USA Today
Sports)
Horse racing fan Ellen Palmer
wears a derby hat in the infield during the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby
at Churchill Downs. (Reuters/Aaron Borton/Louisville
Courier-Journal)
Monique Rosteing poses with her
derby hat before the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
(Reuters/David Lee Hartlage/Louisville Courier-Journal)
A patron wears a decorated derby
hat before the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. (Reuters/Mark Zerof - USA Today Sports)
Ashley Cebak wears a derby hat
before the 2014 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. (Reuters/Jamie Rhodes - USA Today Sports)
Attendees wear matching elaborate
hats before the running of the 139th Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs.
(Reuters/Jeff Haynes)
A race fan displays his hat
before the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs.
(Reuters/Jeff Haynes)
Race fan Julie Casteel displays
her hat before the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race. (Reuters/Jeff Haynes)
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They sure know how to have fun in Kentucky.
