Why do the women who attend the Kentucky Derby as spectators all wear big fancy hats?
A quote from the USA Today newpaper regarding the hats worn at the Kentucky Derby revealed this… “We don’t have a lot of documented history on the hats, but speculation has it that when the Derby was first brought here, they wanted it to be a social affair,” says Courtney Stinson, public relations manager for the Kentucky Derby Museum. “They went around to all of the women’s clubs in town and invited the women to dress up in their finest to come to the Derby. … In that period, of course, the hat was essential, and the hat just carried through.” Women don’t just wear hats at the Kentucky Derby. They flaunt them in all their wide-brimmed, feather-festooned, flower-adorned, fancy-veiled glory. High style is the way to go for this most monumental horse race and the week of racing leading up to it. The women under these big, bold hats some they make for others that sell for $1,000 or more lead the way. “You make a statement when you walk in, and that’s what women like,” says Angie Schul
