Kiwi fashionistas leading the field at Melbourne Cup

• Published date: 25 September 2022

West won the Fashions on the Field at Flemington in 2019 and with this year being the first live fashion extravaganza since the pandemic, she’s looking forward to attending as a past winner. So too is Hahn, who has unwittingly become the poster girl for this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival, which is celebrating 60 years of Fashions on the Field

Hahn, a milliner by trade who created West’s winning headwear, was surprised to see herself on billboards around Australia recently in an outfit she wore to Oaks Day in Melbourne three years ago.

“Oaks Day is traditional, very feminine and pretty, but I wanted to modernise that feeling with the ostrich-feather dress which was custom-made for me,” Hahn tells Spy.

“I don’t remember the particular photographer who took the shot but it did go in to win him a photography prize.”

Hahn says it can be quite overwhelming with media and photographers swarming at Flemington, particularly when you capture their attention.

In West’s winning year she attended the full week of Melbourne Cup events, including Derby Day, Melbourne Cup Day and Oaks Day.

“On the first day of racing, I arrived intending to enter the Fashions on the Field competition, and boy was it an eye-opener,” says West.

She says the scope of everything from The Park venue to the incredible outfits was something she had never seen before.

“I entered not thinking I stood a chance and managed to take home third place on that first day, which I was chuffed with.”

On Melbourne Cup Day, at 20 weeks pregnant, she scooped the top prize against hundreds of women. West then returned for Oaks Day, with the...