- The basis to all fashion and style is good grooming - make sure you have a good long shower, wash and condition your hair, use deodorant and body crème and perfume and all the other things that make you feel girly and special.
- Have breakfast! This may be the only proper solid food you have all day and if you're to last the distance you need more than just 'champers' for brekkie if you're to be a winner in any stakes at all!
- If you're applying fake tan yourself make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions. If you're using a professional make sure they are professional and the results are good by having a trial before they big day. Nothing spoils an outfit more than a streaky orange body underneath.
- Always have two outfits ready for the day. There's nothing worse than being either too hot or too cold, and if you're entering Fashion in the Field one of the conditions is the suitability of the outfit to the day. Nothing looks sillier than a silk dress and a net hat on a day that's pouring with rain.
- Check the weather forecast and take an umbrella if it's going to rain and remember your sunglasses if it's sunny. Incorporate them into your look - but at the end of the day you'll look far sillier without an umbrella than foregoing it because it doesn't match your outfit. Never, ever use your hat as an umbrella.
- Make sure your outfit allows for changes in weather. If you have a sleeveless dress take a jacket or wrap, and if you have a jacket make sure you have something under it so if you start to swelter you can always whip it off.
- Make sure your accessories are in good shape. Many a Fashion in the Field title has been lost on a tatty bag or scuffed shoes. There is no excuse these days to have either, as there are great shoe and accessory stores that sell high fashion, good looking product. Drop that latte or Panini for lunch for a couple of weeks prior and shout yourself - no outfit will be a winner on or off the catwalk if the accessories are off.
- Take an alternative pair of shoes. By all means wear your gorgeous, posh, and divinely sexy killer heels for the parade, or for the first hour, but if you want to be partying in the car park 'til late you'll need to take shoes you can walk, or at least stand in after a long days racing.
- Always pack the absolute essentials for the day - Panadol, moisturizer/sunscreen, a safety pin in case of mishaps, make up re-application kit including foundation, lips and eyes, purse pack of hairspray and Bandaids. This way you will look as glamorous on your way home as you did on the way there!
- Make sure you have enough cash. Cards are great but sometimes Eftpos machines aren't so easy to find on a racecourse.
- Hats are fabulous as we all know, but do cause the dreaded 'hat hair' after an hour or two. When you decide it's time to liberate your 'do', don't feel tempted to give your hair a good old brush - this will do nothing but excite all the electricity hidden in each strand and result in you looking like you've put your finger in a light socket. Simply lift your hair into place with your fingers and spray into place with a strong hold hair spray. Using a good moisturizing conditioner and some and anti static product on your hair will also help with restoring your hairdo back to its wonderful self that much easier.
- Before the partying starts in earnest, find a safe place for your hat or anything else you are likely to lose!
- And speaking of static - if your dress is clinging to your legs, rub moisturizer on them, even over the top of pantyhose, to get rid of the dreaded cling. Always have a muster point - a place to meet if you lose everyone. Sometimes at big race meetings cell 'phone coverage can be a bit dodgy and it's a great day for losing 'phones, so have a backup plan and a place to meet at the end of the day.
- Know how you're getting home and have a plan! Taxis can be as rare as elephants on a racecourse come the end of the day, so either book a taxi early, or have a place to meet your mates and bus or train home. Leave your car keys at home unless you have a sober driver you can trust and don't take any risks by accepting rides with people you don't know or ending up stranded in places you don't know with people you many not end up wanting to be with.
