Melbourne Cup Day = Fashion, Flemington, Field, Fun

We’re SUPER excited that Melbourne Cup – the race that stops a nation (it literally does, so much so that Aussies get a public holiday out of it) – is just around the corner!! Having lived in Melbourne for over ten years, Natasha is used to all the hype and buzz approaching one of the biggest fashion events in Australia and Carmen and Natasha can’t wait to see the ladies all dressed up and gents looking super suave and dapper :).

Even though it’s called Melbourne Cup Day (which falls on 4th November this year), let’s not forget that the fun actually begins today – which is Darby Day, the day for classic elegance, where everyone wears nothing but black and white (and it’s considered THE must-attend event), followed by Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, then Oaks Day on Thursday or also known as Ladies Day, where ladies get to show off their own style and creativity.

Even though we both have been away from Australia for some time now, we still make a point to celebrate Melbourne Cup Day wherever we are (even though Carmen is originally a Sydney girl, there’s no rivalry between us, because we both agree Melbourne is the fashion capital of Australia, contrary to what people say. Haha!)

So let’s start with a bit of history behind this special day. It all began in 1962 when the Victoria Racing Club’s (VRC) Fashions on the Field competition was born. The contest was meant to ‘woo more women to the races’ and boy did it woo the women alright! Check out these pictures if you don’t believe us! (pictures taken from the VRC website)

Pretty awesome right??

So you can imagine how thrilled we were when the Australian and New Zealand Association (ANZA) asked if we wanted to be on the cover of their magazine’s Melbourne Cup Day edition.

We started by getting our hair done at The Big Blow at Cluny court by the lovely and talented Ellie, and then off we went on our mini road trip to the Singapore Turf Club on what felt like a forty-degree sunny day. Sigh, the things we do for fashion!

First the dresses, by the Australian brand Cameo the Label, which were from this gorgeous shop on Amoy Street called Willow and Huxley and the beautiful Singapore made hats by Hats Off. Natasha chose her Valentino Rockstuds in patent red, while Carmen chose the super killer heels by Schutz. If you never had the chance to walk on lush grass in stilettos, let us tell you that it is NOT easy.

We had such a blast at the photo shoot, despite the heat! After all, what girl doesn’t get excited to wear pretty hats and dresses!

So there you have it, darling readers! We hope you learned a thing or two about  Melbourne Cup and enjoyed the pics 🙂

xx

Carmen and Natasha

 

 

Jewellery at Topshop

Gosh we love topshop, as loving the jewellery even more right now! Pieces below started at $15sgd and over, so an affordable accessories fix! Check out Carmen’s favourite picks below (spotted at the Orchard road Knightsbridge store).

In love with Henri Charpentier’s shade of pink

First of all, can we start this blog post by declaring our love for this shade of pink, which is why we decided to do a ‘shoefie’ (read: shoe selfie) on the pink carpet. Red carpet is too ordinary for Carmen and Natasha pink is more unique 🙂 Natasha is loving her new shoes that she found at Marks and Spencer for… wait for it…. SGD50 (the original price was SGD110). Carmen is equally in love with her smoking hot red patent studded Prada sandals from the recent La Prendo sale. When we heard that the French-inspired Japanese Patisserie is opening its doors at Dempsey, we just had to check it out. After all, who wouldn’t be excited by the words ‘Japanese’ ‘French’ and ‘Patisserie’ all in the same sentence?!!? Henri Charpentier is very fancy shmancy with all the frills, but unfortunately not even the Japanese staff and our own Crepe Suzette station can impress us (did we mention the crepe suzette costs SGD22?). The service was very average (to put things mildly) and there was also no music when we went there, so the room was filled with this canteen-like noise of people chit chatting. The decor was beautiful though, and the fact that the cafe overlooks the lush greenery helps create the tranquil feel to the place. Here’s a picture of our $22 Crepe Suzette! We must admit that Henri Charpentier’s financiers and madeleines are too die for! They literally melt in your mouth. God bless those happy Hokkaido cows! They sure produce the yummiest butter and milk.Enough about the restaurant review – which this post was not intended to be. Let’s focus on Carmen and Natasha’s outfit. Let’s face it, black and white and red is definitely a winning combo. It’s classic, but far from boring. And of course the red Prada sandals polish off the look beautifully.How cool does the messy bun look on Carmen? A bit of attitude and personality is always a good addition to your swag. We swear we did not intentionally color coordinate our outfits! Great minds think alike, we’d say. 🙂 Natasha wore her red dress and completed the look with her beloved fuchsia Saint Laurent mini duffel bag and her Marks and Spencer shoes. Oh and Kate Spade bracelet plus Zara sunnies. The green wall provides a good backdrop for our selfies. Yes, once in a while we can’t help but do fun selflies. And we’re always super grateful when we find a total stranger to take a decent pic of us. 

Orly, OPI, China Glaze for under S$10!

Nothing excites us more than cheap nail polish! Okay, that’s kinda a lie. We get excited about good shoe sale, a new talented local designer, awesome coffee, and a great burger – not exactly in that order (burgers are right up there). We contemplated on not publishing this post. It has been sitting in our draft folder for a loooooooong time. Why you ask? Because this hidden gem is almost too good to share, but being the lovely and generous girls that we are, we decided to let you in on this nail polish junkie’s dream. Let the pictures speak for themselves, shall we? The shop also has other nail ‘accessories’ and goodies like manicure tools and stickers. So where is this hidden gem you wonder? Well, it’s at the Scape building right next to Mandarin Orchard hotel. It’s on the ground floor, and it’s literally tucked away in a corner. It’s a bit hard to explain, but basically just go past the little foodcourt and you’ll be able to see it. And we don’t really know the name of the shop but I guess it’s all part of the mystery, right? Good luck finding it, but once you do, it sure is worth it!