Today’s post is Fashion Friday meets travel review for the Kentucky Derby. What is the Kentucky Derby all about besides horse racing… the fashion! And boy was there interesting fashion! We had high expectations for the derby, we had been planning this trip for an entire year. We didn’t know what to expect, but were hoping it was worth the money and hype. Nonetheless, we hoped it would be one of the best weekends of our lives. It is safe to say it exceeded all of our expectations on so many levels. Mostly because we found some awesome new friends who were derby experts that took us under their wing and showed us the ropes. Shout out to the Marcomb’s (our all-star derby group seen below)!
For the derby weekend the fashion on Friday is a little more low key and Saturday is the day you pull out all the stops. So we will feature our Saturday Derby outfits, but we will give you some glimpses into Friday as well. We had the hardest time trying to take photos at the derby so we ran outside quickly Saturday morning to take photos in front of our hotel. We are so glad we did cause they turned out great.
Ang’s Derby Style
The Derby is all about color and wild fashion…so needless to say I didn’t really fit in. I tried to have fun with black and white though. I ended up loving this look and I didn’t feel too out of place.
Ang’s Derby Style
The Derby is all about color and wild fashion…so needless to say I didn’t really fit in. I tried to have fun with black and white though. I ended up loving this look and I didn’t feel too out of place.
Hat // White Crop Top // Black Skirt // Black Pumps (similar)
Jess’s Derby Style
I don’t have a problem with color or flash, although I was a bit overwhelmed with all the color mixing and crazy outfits happening. This is my Aunt Kathy’s hat and I have always wanted to wear it. While shopping this winter I found this dress on the sale rack, it screamed derby to me. I was a bit worried about the stripes and the feathers, but after seeing some of the other derby fashion I wasn’t worried anymore.
Jess’s Derby Style
I don’t have a problem with color or flash, although I was a bit overwhelmed with all the color mixing and crazy outfits happening. This is my Aunt Kathy’s hat and I have always wanted to wear it. While shopping this winter I found this dress on the sale rack, it screamed derby to me. I was a bit worried about the stripes and the feathers, but after seeing some of the other derby fashion I wasn’t worried anymore.
Dress // Heels // Hat (Vintage)
Friday’s Kentucky Oaks
The derby weekend is divided into two days, the Friday Oaks and the Saturday Derby. If you go to the derby you must go to the Oaks. I almost think the Oaks was my favorite day. It was little less crowded (only 140,000 compared to 170,000 on Saturday) and it was fun getting a lay of the land. We ended up sitting with our friends in their box and their seats didn’t disappoint. I (Jessica) had a hard time keeping my mouth shut about the Superbowl while sitting in front of the top players from the Patriot’s team….. Deflategate!!!!
Friday’s Kentucky Oaks
The derby weekend is divided into two days, the Friday Oaks and the Saturday Derby. If you go to the derby you must go to the Oaks. I almost think the Oaks was my favorite day. It was little less crowded (only 140,000 compared to 170,000 on Saturday) and it was fun getting a lay of the land. We ended up sitting with our friends in their box and their seats didn’t disappoint. I (Jessica) had a hard time keeping my mouth shut about the Superbowl while sitting in front of the top players from the Patriot’s team….. Deflategate!!!!
Kentucky Oaks Style
I went for some crop top action here! My first time wearing it. It was a “pink out” celebrating ovarian and breast cancer survivors.
Crop Top // Pencil Skirt // Fascinator
Crop Top // Pencil Skirt // Fascinator
I didn’t want to spend too much on Fridays outfit so I grabbed this dress off a clearness rack but then later found it at Express. I was a little top heavy for it, I think it would be super cute if you had a smaller chest though. The hat was also wallet friendly find.
Dress // Hat
Official Drink: Lily
Dress // Hat
Official Drink: Lily
This was the perfect drink for a hot day…we both absolute loved it, maybe a little too much ;)
Recipe:
1 1/4 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
1/4 oz. Triple Sec
3 oz. Cranberry Juice
Directions: Once the ingredients are mixed, place the pinkish cocktail in a stemless wine glass with crushed ice, add a straw and garnish with a blackberry and lemon wedge.
Kentucky Derby
Oh the big day… we thankfully went to bed early that night because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Thanks again to our new friends we had fabulous seats in the Turf Club area of Churchhill downs. This meant rubbing elbows with some great C-list celebs and A list athletes. Funny enough our favorite of the weekend by far was the Papa John. Yep you know it, Mr. Papa John’s pizza himself. You’ll see a photo of him at the end of this post.
Recipe:
1 1/4 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
1/4 oz. Triple Sec
3 oz. Cranberry Juice
Directions: Once the ingredients are mixed, place the pinkish cocktail in a stemless wine glass with crushed ice, add a straw and garnish with a blackberry and lemon wedge.
Kentucky Derby
Oh the big day… we thankfully went to bed early that night because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Thanks again to our new friends we had fabulous seats in the Turf Club area of Churchhill downs. This meant rubbing elbows with some great C-list celebs and A list athletes. Funny enough our favorite of the weekend by far was the Papa John. Yep you know it, Mr. Papa John’s pizza himself. You’ll see a photo of him at the end of this post.
With tradition we started the day off with Mint Juleps on Saturday. We both “claimed” we didn’t like these, but we kept ordering them!
Mint Julep Recipe:
1 ounce minted simple syrup
2 cups crushed ice
2 ounces bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)
Fresh mint spring, for garnish
Celeb Sighting:
Of all the celebrities from Victoria Secret Super Models to Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, we only got star struck around the ones that had their biggest impact on us growing up. The Turf Club at the Kentucky Derby was a 1999 middle school dream, we stood in lines next to Boyz II Men and Joey Fatone from Nsync, how much more late 1990s can it get. I recommend you turn your pandora station to Boyz II Men radio right now… it won’t disappoint!
1 ounce minted simple syrup
2 cups crushed ice
2 ounces bourbon (such as Woodford Reserve)
Fresh mint spring, for garnish
Celeb Sighting:
Of all the celebrities from Victoria Secret Super Models to Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, we only got star struck around the ones that had their biggest impact on us growing up. The Turf Club at the Kentucky Derby was a 1999 middle school dream, we stood in lines next to Boyz II Men and Joey Fatone from Nsync, how much more late 1990s can it get. I recommend you turn your pandora station to Boyz II Men radio right now… it won’t disappoint!
Our new friend Madison was obsessed with Joey Fatone! Speaking of Madison… how cute was her dress. We both loved it, you can find it at Anthropologie.
I’m guessing Papa Johns jacket is custom? Ang wants to make one advertising our blog…. (yes that’s Guy Fieri)
We both enjoyed betting and walking around enjoying the sights and scenes. We happily both won money, Ang $18 and me $80 on the final derby race.
We encourage you all to attend, no matter where your seats are you will have a wonderful time. We loved every moment to the point that we stayed up in bed Saturday night laughing until 3am replaying the weekend. Thank you for going along on the adventure with us on our instagram and Facebook.
Cheers,
Ang + Jess
Cheers,
Ang + Jess
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