Flemington

22 The Kennedy Oaks – it is Ladies’ Day at the Melbourne Cup Carnival 2021, celebrated in style around the nation. “Attract the ladies and the men are sure to follow.” Whether he ever said these words or not 150 years ago, this was reportedly the wisdom of the Victoria Racing Club’s very first Secretary (Chief Executive), Robert Cooper Bagot, in drawing crowds to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup Carnival. He made sure there were superior facilities for ladies in the Grand Stand, and he issued the members of the VRC, all male, two free guest tickets for ladies at each race meeting. Cup Day in the Bagot era became so popular and overcrowded that one newspaper of the 1870s ‘strongly advised the feminine portion of the population to reserve their powers for the real “ladies’ day”, the Oaks day, when they would have an opportunity of seeing and being seen’. Fashion was foremost. Bagot’s successor as Secretary, Henry Byron Moore, held the top job at Flemington for the next forty-four years. He is credited with giving Oaks Day its special magic as Ladies’ Day. After the buzz of Melbourne Cup Day, Oaks Day at Flemington became the chance for a more relaxed day at the races, with more room on the lawns and in the stands for ‘seeing and being seen’. Oaks Day followed fashions from the colonial into the Edwardian era, on into the flappers’ decade of the 1920s, the restrained elegance of the 1930s and 1940s, and the tailored flair of the 1950s. After that, there was something of a fashion revolution. The origins of the Myer Fashions on the Field competition date back sixty years now, to the 1960s, with Oaks Day always the focal point. The contest, like fashion itself, has moved with the times. Then, in 2020, in the demanding times of the global Covid pandemic, it evolved into Myer Fashions on Your Front Lawn, promoted again this year by the VRC as ‘the major digital fashion and style event open to all Australian residents and set to bring the glamorous spirit of Flemington to homes right across the country’. HOW OAKS DAY BECAME LADIES’ DAY BY ANDREW LEMON A STORY FROM THE VAULT