Hats and horses under the hot sun

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Being stylish and glamorous at the Dubai World Cup and keeping ahead of the fashion pack was a serious venture.

Ladies strutted their stuff with individual couture hailing from the Victorian era to the bizarre. It's all about standing out at such a "head turning" event. Race-goers from all over the world that congregated to watch the fashions and the horses were not disappointed.

The eclectic array of headwear ranged from extraordinary hats, fascinators and parasols, which acted as a useful tool in keeping shade for a lot of the ladies. The passion for hats was taken to the extreme with some self made designs such as the "racing track" with horses galloping around the brim heading towards the "winning post" and butterflies adorning heads. Parisian styles, pompoms with veiling, dollar bills and feathers surrounded the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse.

It wasn't just the horses and their owners who set out to win big at the Dubai World Cup. The fashion stakes were also high with fierce competition jockeying for the positions of best hat and overall best dressed lady. The men were not excluded either with the opportunity to be involved in the best dressed "couple". With each category having fantastic prizes of up to US$ 5,000 and being sponsored by BurJuman at the Style Arena, it was not surprising that anyone and everyone flocked to register.

Spectators witnessed some shameless posing and srtutting from some determined contestants.

High profile judges including London super milliner Philip Treacy, had a very difficult time whittling out the competition to ultimately announce who they considered "the best". Australian milliners stood proud as half the finalists were wearing hats from Australian designers. Winning contestants were Laura Gleich for best hat (from Blondies, Melbourne); Teresa Charvatova, for best dressed lady, wearing a hat by Karen Hamilton from Melbourne; and Diana Conway as runner up. Overall no matter which horse, hat or beast past the post first, everyone that was there was a winner!

Marilena Romeo, staff writer