Ahhh, Melbourne Cup would have to be one of my favourite days of the year, not only does it give you an excuse to drink bubbles and talk ponies, but the fashion is deemed just as important as the race itself! This I feel is a major achievement for the world of fashion, a win, if you will. I love the idea that women (and men) are taking weeks out of their busy schedules, planning, preening, shopping and collecting the perfect outfit to really turn heads on Cup day. Sure there are other races and derby days during the year, but Melbourne Cup is the one that puts Fashion on the Front page of the Sunday Mail.
So what did I do for Melbourne Cup? Well I had just finished uni the previous Friday, so finding a spare few hours on my hands I thought I would take a quick trip to Spotlight and make something for the first time in 14 weeks! Well I can tell you, there is nothing more contenting for me to finally, finally, FINALLY get to make something! My last semester at uni left me ridiculously stressed and too busy to even think about designing or making anything that I thought I'd most likely forgotten how, but thank you Spotlight, turns out I haven't forgotten at all.
I ended up deciding that a fascinator was more appropriate for our small office lunch than a hat. I meticulously picked through what remained of the DIY fascinator section; which at the time looked as though it had been attacked by a swarm of locusts, but it was reassuring to know that there were others creating there own Cup classics, and I wasn't alone in the "rather make one than buy one" realm. I decided rather than feathers, fabric and diamantees, Spring flowers were the order of the day and after poking around in the silk flower section decided on white Lillie's and some cute little red flowers (they look almost hibiscus-ish) and with that I took to a new project. A few hours later and they were all sewn on and I have to say, I didn't do a half bad job, in fact, I was rather pleased, especially when doing the math I worked out it had cost me half of what a store bought one would have (even if I had have bought it from Diva).
Needless to say I was the talk of the office at our obligatory cold chicken and cheap bubbles lunch, although I was slightly disheartened as no one else bothered with a hat, given that I work for an IT company, I really shouldn't have been surprised. Despite my being the only one "hatted" I couldn't have been happier! Everyone seemed to be extremely complimentary of my efforts, with several people not believing I'd made it myself. It was a lovely feeling to have my work appreciated and commented and it definitely stirred up my desire to create a new label. Now I have some time on my hands, I'm going to really get stuck into some more design work.
