Colourblocking with the stars: Melbourne Cup 2011

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And they're off. The 2011 Melbourne Cup race day is underway at Flemington Raceourse and the fashion competition is heating up. A few shots to dribble in indicate that colour is an early trend. Hardly surprising of course, given that intense colour is a major trend of Australia's Spring/Summer 2011/2012 season, following the cues of the northern hemisphere's SS11. Big local names to catch the photographers' attention thus far include Dancing with the stars contestant and serial red carpet offender Brynne Edelsten - whose style one wag dubbed "Dis-Vegas", a hybrid of Disneyland and Las Vegas - together with colour-coordinated husband Dr Geoffrey Edelsten (above); Rebecca Judd (below, with her sister Kate Twigley); DWTS co-host Sonia Kruger and Jennifer Hawkins, the face of Australian department store chain Myer. The fashion editors are keeping it a little more muted. Here are some shots from the Twitter accounts of Kate Waterhouse, fashion editor of The Sun Herald and Alyx Gorman from The Vine - the latter channelling a 1920s flapper in Romance Was Born. Entourage's Adrian Grenier teamed his black suit with Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Tops. While former Triple M radio star Mieke Buchan breached the Victoria Racing Club's dress code by rocking up in shorts. At least they weren't denim cutoffs. 

photos:


1/ geoffrey and brynne edelsten/getty
2/ mieke buchan/getty
3/ rebecca judd (R) and sister kate twigley/getty
4/ jennifer hawkins/getty
5/ sonia kruger/getty
6/ kate waterhouse (second from R)/twitter5/ kate waterhouse/twitter
7/ alyx gorman/twitter
8/ sophie van den akker/getty
9/ laura dundovic/getty
10/ adrian grenier/getty
11/ chantelle delaney/getty

The fashion commute

steven meisel via vogue.it

In one of those amusing art-imitates-life scenarios, the ever-creative Vogue Italia released a preview of its November cover story overnight. A 26-page fashion editorial lensed, of course, by Steven Meisel, 'The A train' depicts supermodel Raquel Zimmermann commuting on the New York subway, whilst kitted out in various luxury brand finery and flanked by a cast of black-suited salarymen. Anyone familiar with Australia's annual Melbourne Cup Carnival will be reminded of very similar scenes on Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse Line at this time of year. At time of writing, the latter is in the process of delivering a hefty percentage of the 100,000 that are expected to attend today's Melbourne Cup - just with a much higher volume of women in hats. Whilst the traditional dress code for Derby Day is black and white (ignored on Saturday by, among others, Dita Von Teese), for the Melbourne Cup, the so-called 'race which stops a nation', it's more of a no-holds-barred fashion approach. 

all images: steven meisel via vogue.it

Sharon den Adel Wallpaper

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Amber Heard Gallery

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But Dita Von Teese was the belle of the ball

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Dita Von Teese might have bucked with tradition at Flemington Racecourse today by failing to adhere to Derby Day's traditional black and white dress code. But while there were some terribly chic ensembles at the track - Lindy Klim springs to mind, in an elegant black sheath dress with point d'esprit sleeves and a black picture hat - Von Teese stole the show in her own creation: the one-shouldered, draped 'Follow Me' style in 'ruby lips red' from her new Muse capsule dress collection. It was teamed with a scarlet Philip Treacy hat and matching Christian Louboutin satin pumps and clutch. Other racegoers weren't quite as well pulled-together, notably those who opted for shaggy, unkempt hair. One case in point, Alexandra Richards - daughter of Keith - who was otherwise elegant in a black silk maxidress and black lace headpiece.

Miss J is the belle of the Derby

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Derby Day is in full swing but at time of posting, not a whole heap of fashion coverage was forthcoming either from the mainstream media or the real-time crew. In the interim, here are a few shots from Getty. Most adhered to the traditional black and white dress code of the first day of the week-long Melbourne Cup Carnival, the highlight of which is of course Tuesday's Melbourne Cup. Great effort by America's Next Top Model model mentor J Alexander - aka "Miss J" - who topped his smart black suit with a fabulous black-and-white, Cecil Beaton-inspired headpiece that looked like it was straight off the Royal Ascot set from My Fair Lady. Alexander is part of a posse of international celebs who will descend on Flemington Racecourse over the next week. Others expected include Sarah Jessica Parker, Joan Collins and Kim Kardashian. Dita von Teese, who is in town to spruik her new Muse dress collection at David Jones, bucked Derby Day's dress code with a scarlet red ensemble from her own collection:

lauren brain's twitter

(top to bottom) rachael finch, esther anderson, jennifer hawkins and rebecca judd, alexandra richards, rachael taylor, lindy klim, ashley hart, ruby rose: getty via daylife