Actually I know what happened - here in Australia it is spring and so everyone wants dresses for spring weddings - and for the racing.
November in Victoria (where I live) is all about the Spring Racing Carnival - the Melbourne Cup, Flemington (where the race is held), roses (because they have beautiful rose gardens there)
- and fashion.
Melbourne Cup Day is always the first Tuesday in November and is a public holiday for the state of Victoria (yes, we have a public holiday for a horse race!). The actual race is held at 3.00pm and is called 'the race that stops a nation' because pretty much everyone in Australia stops and listens to see who wins this race. This year, it was won by Green Moon.
But Melbourne Cup Day isn't the only special racing day. The Saturday before Cup Day is Derby Day, the Saturday after is Emirates Stakes Day which is specially for families and today, the Thursday after Cup Day is Oaks Day or Ladies Day.
The other big thing about the Spring racing carnival is the Fashions on the Field competition which this year has been running for 50 years There are competitions for women's fashion on each one of the special race days. There are also special competitions - on Melbourne Cup Day there is one for designer's outfits, Oaks Day has the millinery competition and Stakes Day has special competitions for children's fashions.
And so, because today was Oaks day, my girls decided to get dressed for the races.
They were all very happy with their choices:
Therese chose strapless and summer flowers:
Audrey chose purple and a big, black hat:
And Stephanie chose separates in blue and white:
She also carried a pink handbag but left it with her friends for the photoshoot.
They had a lovely time and the weather was perfect. Maybe next year, I'll have enough time to make dresses for all my dolls and have my own Fashions of the Field competition.
