My Frugal Race Day

Going to the races is one of my few social outings – and I only go 1 or 2 times a year – so I really enjoy the build up to the event, as much as the day. I think this all started when I was about 8 or 9, and my grandparents had a race horse. I went with them to watch their horse run a few times and I think the bug bit me then!

Previous races have meant a lot of expense and new clothes, but this time, I am feeling refreshed and decided to opt for a Frugal Race Day!

But, going Frugal doesn’t mean I’m lowering my standards. It’s a very personal thing, but I simply cannot go to the races if I don’t feel like I’m dressed appropriately – and for me, that means having an outfit that works, complete with some sort of hat/headpiece. It doesn’t matter how many times other people tell me my outfit looks good, if I don’t *feel* it, I’m not happy! It’s not about the clothes, it’s about respecting the tradition – the races are becoming very popular these days and I feel it’s critical that we honour the tradition of being dressed appropriately at these events. I would hate for these days to become an event where its acceptable to wear some of the things I see girls wearing out...

So, how am I doing the races Frugally? I’m wearing a dress from my cupboard, a fascinator I made myself (using only $25 worth of materials – I didn’t have any supplies in a matching colour), and a bag I already had.

However, I broke a toe about 3 weeks ago, and the shoes I had planned to wear (that I also have in my cupboard), can’t be worn – I simply cannot stand up in them! So I tried my dress on with every pair of shoes I own and none were right.

After looking in every shoe shop in town (half-heartedly though I must admit as I was really not wanting to buy anything), and the 3 Op Shops I generally go to, I had almost given up and had no idea what to wear on my feet – anything I liked was not much different to my current shoes, and simply couldn’t be worn for the pain. I was starting to think I might just go barefoot!

But, I happened to duck into another shop last week for a quick look, and lo and behold, I found a lovely pair of shoes in a style I had been thinking would really complement my wardrobe for a while, that fit me, were pain free when wearing them and best of all were only $35.

So I bought them. I really didn’t want to buy anything new for these races (besides materials to make my fascinator), but at the same time I didn’t plan on breaking my toe! The more shops I went into looking, the more I became really determined that if I was going to spend any money it was going to be on a pair of shoes that I would definitely wear again, were comfortable and didn’t break my bank balance.

The total cost for the race day was $110 – including my ticket to the air conditioned area at the track ($25), shoes I will wear again ($35) and a fascinator that I can easily update with minimal expense or work ($25), and Ventolin on the day (due to the horrific fires causing my asthma to flare quite unexpectedly $10), and some snacks/beverages on the day.

Previously I have been known to spend up to 5 times that amount on a race day but the last few years have made me look at things like this very differently and I just can’t do that anymore. So much expense, frivolity and waste for a single day… I have a cupboard full of hats I haven’t worn a second time, a row of dresses I haven’t worn since. This is absolutely not a behaviour I want to be modelling to my daughters.

Of course, I’m in the process of unpacking my office/sewing room, so the next race day I go to, I will hopefully be wearing one of my own creations! I’ve already been told by a couple of my friends that I should make their fascinators for them, so perhaps I can make fascinators for people to offset the cost of my day! And I will be refashioning my existing hats to co-ordinate with future outfits (now that I've found and unpacked them too!).

I think the biggest thrill of the day for me is the creativity involved in putting together the outfit, and getting to chat to people I don't see often - I ran into a number of old friends yesterday and it was lovely to catch up with them!

PS Photo will come once I have a better internet connection - I'm struggling to find an ISP for my new area that doesn't cost the earth...