Kilted at the Kentucky Derby

[Drac]

Hey all,

Twisting my wife's arm to go to the Derby. One of those bucket list things.

While anything nice goes at the Derby it is a Red Carpet kind of event. That's the way the fashion section described it.

Any of you been there or seen how a kilt would be worn?

Thanks,
Jim

[JSFMACLJR]

I've been to the Kentucky Derby numerous times, but have never worn a kilt to the track. I do know that ForresterModern went to the Breeders Cup races last fall in the kilt.

[Zardoz]

I've been there, but it was in the 90's, in my "pre-kilt" days. People dressed every which way, but I recall that most of the ladies were pretty dressed up, big hats optional, but we saw folks in everything from aloha shirts and shorts to morning suits.
If I were to go again I wouldn't hesitate to sport the kilt with some dressy day-wear, it would look great there.

[ForresterModern]

Here is how I was bedecked for the men and womens fashion contest at the first day of the 2010 Breeder's Cup this past fall at Churchill Downs. The color theme was purple, hence the choice of kilt and accoutrements. Good enough for second place in the men's division.



Wife and I, brother and fiancee, and two old friends are going to be sitting in a cheap seats box for both the Kentucky Oaks (Friday) and Kentucky Derby (Saturday) this year, my first for both. I plan on going kilted for both days, and am already working on my out fit (hat not an issue for the men---simple Balmoral) to work well with the wife's, or at least not clash. Will post photos after the event. Maybe we will see you there.

jeff

[Drac]

Here is how I was bedecked for the men and womens fashion contest at the first day of the 2010 Breeder's Cup this past fall at Churchill Downs. The color theme was purple, hence the choice of kilt and accoutrements. Good enough for second place in the men's division.



Wife and I, brother and fiancee, and two old friends are going to be sitting in a cheap seats box for both the Kentucky Oaks (Friday) and Kentucky Derby (Saturday) this year, my first for both. I plan on going kilted for both days, and am already working on my out fit (hat not an issue for the men---simple Balmoral) to work well with the wife's, or at least not clash. Will post photos after the event. Maybe we will see you there.

jeff

Of course we must never clash with the misses or upstage (not possible with mine) at all costs.

After all it's all about them.

That will take a little saving to get but do able. Got the kilt, sporran and shoes. I'll need the hose and jacket.

Since there doesn't seem to be any color requirements what would be brown or black. Granted I'm always partial toward black.

BTW what is the style of that jacket and waist coat? Argyll?

Jim

[ForresterModern]

Of course we must never clash with the misses or upstage (not possible with mine) at all costs.

After all it's all about them.

That will take a little saving to get but do able. Got the kilt, sporran and shoes. I'll need the hose and jacket.

Since there doesn't seem to be any color requirements what would be brown or black. Granted I'm always partial toward black.

BTW what is the style of that jacket and waist coat? Argyll?

Jim

Remember it is a spring event so colorful is not inappropriate, but the peacock effect does have its detractions with the female accompanying.

For the Derby I think as far up the dress ladder as I would go would be a black Argyll with or without waistcoat (I prefer with), although the waistcoat does not have to match the jacket, rather it could pick up a kilt primary or accent color. Better would be a daywear outfit such as I am wearing (charcoal Argyll and matching waistcoat----it was a fall meet) in a nice lovat green or blue tweed, or if you can pull it off, an estate tweed in a lighter tone. And preferably some colorful hose/flashes and a more colorful bonnet to put on the finishing touches.

j

[Drac]

Thanks.

Though I just noticed that when I asked about brown or black that I forgot to add I was asking about the accessories

Brown or black sporrans, belts and shoes? Brass or silver? I got to admit this throws me. Get mixed messages through the posts. One of the difficult things about too much info.

Jim

[Drac]

Doing some reading on the Derby's page and it looks like dress code is to where you sit.

In the stands it is the fancier code. Down in the infield it seems to be slightly different. Seems to be a Mardi Gras like party on one end from their discription and a G-rated family picnic style on the other.

Jim

[macwilkin]

No discussion about the Kentucky Derby would be complete without the Buckner Mint Julep Ceremony:

http://www.thebucknerhome.com/julep/

My dear General Connor,

Your letter requesting my formula for mixing mint juleps leaves me in the same position in which Captain Barber found himself when asked how he was able to carve the image of an elephant from a block of wood. He replied that it was a simple process consisting merely of whittling off the part that didn't look like an elephant.

The preparation of the quintessence of gentlemanly beverages can be described only in like terms. A mint julep is not the product of a FORMULA. It is a CEREMONY and must be performed by a gentleman possessing a true sense of the artistic, a deep reverence for the ingredients and a proper appreciation of the occasion. It is a rite that must not be entrusted to a novice, a statistician, nor a Yankee. It is a heritage of the old South, an emblem of hospitality and a vehicle in which noble minds can travel together upon the flower-strewn paths of happy and congenial thought.

So far as the mere mechanics of the operation are concerned, the procedure, stripped of its ceremonial embellishments, can be described as follows:

Go to a spring where cool, crystal-clear water bubbles from under a bank of dew-washed ferns. In a consecrated vessel, dip up a little water at the source. Follow the stream through its banks of green moss and wildflowers until it broadens and trickles through beds of mint growing in aromatic profusion and waving softly in the summer breezes. Gather the sweetest and tenderest shoots and gently carry them home. Go to the sideboard and select a decanter of Kentucky Bourbon, distilled by a master hand, mellowed with age yet still vigorous and inspiring. An ancestral sugar bowl, a row of silver goblets, some spoons and some ice and you are ready to start.

In a canvas bag, pound twice as much ice as you think you will need. Make it fine as snow, keep it dry and do not allow it to degenerate into slush.

In each goblet, put a slightly heaping teaspoonful of granulated sugar, barely cover this with spring water and slightly bruise one mint leaf into this, leaving the spoon in the goblet. Then pour elixir from the decanter until the goblets are about one-fourth full. Fill the goblets with snowy ice, sprinkling in a small amount of sugar as you fill. Wipe the outsides of the goblets dry and embellish copiously with mint.

Then comes the important and delicate operation of frosting. By proper manipulation of the spoon, the ingredients are circulated and blended until Nature, wishing to take a further hand and add another of its beautiful phenomena, encrusts the whole in a glittering coat of white frost. Thus harmoniously blended by the deft touches of a skilled hand, you have a beverage eminently appropriate for honorable men and beautiful women.

When all is ready, assemble your guests on the porch or in the garden, where the aroma of the juleps will rise Heavenward and make the birds sing. Propose a worthy toast, raise the goblet to your lips, bury your nose in the mint, inhale a deep breath of its fragrance and sip the nectar of the gods.

Being overcome by thirst, I can write no further.

Sincerely,
S.B. Buckner, Jr.

T.

[ForresterModern]

Thanks.

Though I just noticed that when I asked about brown or black that I forgot to add I was asking about the accessories

Brown or black sporrans, belts and shoes? Brass or silver? I got to admit this throws me. Get mixed messages through the posts. One of the difficult things about too much info.

Jim

Personally I am a matchy-matchy type in general, so I try to match leathers and metals as much as possible-------black with black, brown with brown (although shades may differ) usually only for daywear, gold-tone with gold-tone (not much in my closet), silver-tone with silvertone, etc.... I will probably be wearing non-ghillie brogues each day, possibly brown leathers the first day (Oaks) and definitely black the second (Derby) more dressy day. But for Jock Scot's sake I will not be wearing a flatcap, probably either a balmoral or tam in appropriate shade.