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Museum Exhibit: High Fashion and the Kentucky Derby
May 27, 2018 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
FreeThe Kentucky Derby is a stakes race for three-year old thoroughbred horses, staged yearly in Louisville, Kentucky on the first Saturday in May. capping a two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival.
In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., traveled to England, visiting the Epson Derby, a famous race that had been running annually since 1780. From there Clark went to France, where in 1863 a group of racing enthusiasts formed the French Jockey Club.
Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club for the purpose of raising money to build quality racing facilities just outside the city. The trace would soon become known as Churchill Downs, named for Lewis Clark’s relatives, John and Henry Churchill, who had provided the land for the race track. Officially, the race track was incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937.
In pursuit of his vision, Clark and his wife enlisted the ladies of Louisville to attend the races to picnic with friends. They knew that part of creating allure for the event would be positioning it as a fashion event-so the dress code required “full morning dress” for men and women from the start. Women wore hats and gloves with their dresses. And though the attire has evolved somewhat throughout the decades, the hats have remained a constant. By the 1920’s, though the daytime Kentucky event didn’t attract much of the flapper style for which the era is remembered, the ladies could choose between formal suits or dresses to go with a range of fashionable hat styles.
The Lake Township Historical Society has hats, dresses and suits on display at the One-Room Schoolhouse, 1101 Lake Center Rd., Uniontown. The display is opened Sundays, May 13th, May 20th and May 27 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.