The beauty of race day

The Ritual

The races are one of the last great excuses for genuine glamour. No wedding, gala, or work function quite matches the licence Cup Week gives people to go all out – statement hats, bold colour, or a dapper suit cut. And more and more, the real countdown starts weeks, if not months, before.

Ask any group of friends heading to Derby Day or Oaks Day, and you’ll hear the same thing: half the fun happens before they even arrive. Outfits are planned months in advance. Hat appointments are booked early, because a handmade piece can take weeks to produce properly. Spray tans are timed to the day. Hair and makeup trials are even booked in.

For many, the morning of the race itself has long been a tradition of its own: mimosas poured and playlists on. It’s part of why Cup Week resonates the way it does. The race is the finish line, but the getting-ready is half the story. While Fashions on the Field remains the headline act of Cup Week style, the appetite for race-day fashion content now stretches well beyond the competition itself. Get Ready With Me videos, outfit hauls, and trend forecasts have become as much a part of the build-up as the dress code announcements.

Fashion, grooming and retail activity generated an estimated $63.4 million for Victoria, with racegoers making 343,495 separate fashion purchases across Victoria in the lead-up to the Carnival.

The Professionals

Not every look comes together with a curling iron and a borrowed dress. Melbourne’s beauty and fashion industries effectively go into overdrive in the weeks before Cup Week, with racegoers turning to professionals to get the details right.

Makeup artists and hairstylists are booked months in advance for race-day trials and on-the-day appointments. Tanning clinics report some of their busiest weeks of the year as racegoers chase a natural glow to match their outfit. Milliners are inundated with custom orders, often turning away last-minute requests because a proper handmade piece simply takes time to construct. And tailors – for the men determined not to turn up in last year’s suit – are just as busy fitting morning suits for Derby Day and sharper, statement-making cuts for Cup Day itself.

Racegoers, men and women alike, are increasingly happy to invest in getting it right, something that pays in spades for Victoria. The 2025 Melbourne Cup Carnival generated a Gross Economic Benefit of $533 million to the state – the highest economic impact on record and a 6% increase year on year.

The Traditions

Each day of the Carnival carries its own mood: the monochrome discipline of Howden Victoria Derby Day, the bold colour of Lexus Melbourne Cup Day, the soft femininity of Crown Oaks Day, and the relaxed ease of TAB Champions Stakes Day. Racegoers plan around these themes with enthusiasm, treating each day as a fresh opportunity to dress the part.