Spring Racing Carnival 2006 Fashion Wrap-Up

Now I'd hardly consider myself a fashionista.

I don't buy Cleo or Cosmo, I didn't attend the Spring Racing Carnival, and I've never had my nails done in my life.

Rather, I'm a poor student who buys most of her clothes from Valley Girl, and at this very moment I'm wearing trackpants, ugg boots and a hoodie.

But I don't think that's any reason not to judge other people's spring racing carnival outfits, is it?

I like to think of fashion the way I think of art: I don't know much about it, but I know what I like.*

First up is the obligatory 'celebrities'.

Kate 'another one bites the dust' Bosworth. Kate has gotten way too skinny lately. And what it that thing on her head?





Look how fit and healthy she was in Blue Crush a couple of years ago:



It's sad to see how thin and frail she looks now.

One thing Kate does have going for her, however, is that she is a bona fide celebrity. The other main overseas celebrity shipped in this year was Andrea Bowen, aka Teri Hatcher's daughter on Desperate Housewives. Australia, is this really the best you can do?



She looks cute enough here, but she's not even old enough to drink or bet on the races- she's sixteen- and is hardly what I'd call a 'star'. Try harder next year guys.

As for the Australian Posh and Becks, Bec and Leight, I'm in two minds about Bec's outfit. She caused a stir by wearing shorts in what is a traditionally a me-Tarzan, you-Jane sort of atmosphere, where the men wear suits and the women wear dresses.





I don't mind the shorts. I love long shorts, and I think they look quite cute on her. I would expect to see copycats next year. There's a fine line between being a trendsetter and committing a fashion faux pas though, and I don't like the bra-style top at all. It's too trashy for what is supposed to be a classy event.

Alex Dimitriades looked dapper. He was judging the fashions on the field after all.



Jennifer Hawkins always looks good, but I think this outfit is way to cutesy for her. She's sexy, not cute, and if I was dressing her I'd play up the sexy side of her.



As for the non-celebs, I love all the colour and effort people go to with their outfits, such as Ruth Jackman, who is wearing a Linda Gorringe outfit:



Jess Soldani, who must have been freezing in this outfit on cup day:



and Christolyn Raj:



I love all the elaborate hats too, but some of them just look so heavy.

Livia Leone and Sara Nicotera:



Effi Cliff:



Chantal Waters:



I don't know how she did it, but I'm very impressed with Anneliese Seubert here, for pulling off a white outfit with pale skin. Lovely.



Rebecca Twigley caused a fuss with her outfit, as per usual, but I find it rather bland myself:



And the back:



This is Sarah Schofield, who won the fashions on the field contest. Good on her for sticking with the racing theme, and for putting the outfit together on a miniscule budget.



Overall, I think the spring racing carnival fashion is improving as years go on. I look forward to next year's crop. Maybe one day I'll even get all dressed up myself.



*And when I like something I tend to stick to it. I've been wearing black Converse high tops since I was twelve and still wear them to this day, half a lifetime later.

I'm also seriously considering making a two-hour round trip this morning just to pick up a couple of the last precious pairs of Love Kylie Hollywood Hold-Ups left in Melbourne.



They're the best fishnet stay-ups around. They're sexy as, have a seam up the back and they actually stay up. That's it, I'm going...

The emancipation of Susie (apologies, Mariah) or: two months down; happiness prevails

People don't complete us. We complete ourselves.

-Erica Jong, Fear of Flying*

Hello my lovely readers.

How are you all?

Well, I hope.

Please excuse my absence from the blogosphere of late.

It's been necessary for me to take some time out, away from the computer. To spend some time in the sun. To spend some time in the company of real, live people. To stop taking myself so goddman seriously. In short, to make myself happy.**

And it's worked.

I'm feeling much better about things. What I've been realising is that you can't defer your happiness until, say, you finish uni or you have more money or whatever it is you're waiting for- you have to live in the present and appreciate the things that make you happy everyday.



Lots of things have been making me happy lately. Things like seeing what may well be my favourite band ever, Less than Jake, in concert and reliving my teenage years by moshing, skanking, and going in the circle-pit with the boys; the good things about being single, like staying out really late with your friends and dancing the night away, the sense of freedom and possibility that comes with singledom; jogging farther than you thought you could and getting the adrenaline rush that comes with it; music; my lovely friends.

I've been consciously 'putting myself back out there' too, slowly. I've been meeting lots of boys and practicing my flirting technique. It's pretty fun, and it's definitely helping me get over a certain someone. I haven't met anyone I really like yet, but I did kiss a boy who wasn't the boy last weekend, for the first time in a long time.

I don't know how I found the guts to do it, but somehow I managed to pick him up. He was kind of a bad boy, with lots of tatts and piercings, yet I still felt pretty confident flirting with him. It was cool. I feel more comfortable with that sexy side of myself now than I did a couple of years ago. It's a good feeling.

Besides, meeting a new boy and hanging out with him all night until the sun rises has got to be one of my favourite pastimes ever.

For a moment there I considered getting his number, but he wasn't from Melbourne, and while I thought he was awfully pretty (and a damn good kisser), we didn't have that much to talk about, and when I was honest with myself I knew he was just another step in getting over the ex. It was an awesome night though, and it was fun to play 'the boy', and call the shots.





It's good to be back blogging.

I promise not to leave it so long between posts next time.

I'm working cup day (gah!), so I'll be checking out all your lovely blogs then.







* That's not the only lesson I learnt from Fear of Flying. It's helped my dancing too:

"Dancing is like fucking," I said, "it doesn't matter how you look-just concentrate on how you feel." Wasn't I the brazen one? What was with this woman-of-the-world act anyway? I was half crazed with fear.

I closed my eyes and gyrated inside the music. I bumped and ground and undulated. Somewhere back in the ancient days of the Twist, it had suddenly occurred to me that nobody knew how to do these dances- so why feel self conscious? In social dancing, as in social life, chutzpah is all. From then on I became a "good dancer," or at least I enjoyed it. It was like fucking- all rhythm and sweat.

** Well, that and the fact that I'm not working that much at the moment, and I usually blog at work. The above reason's more romantic though.