Decking yourself out for the Vodacom Durban July with its “Captain’s Table” theme meant “looking fantastic,” said Tiffany Prior, the event’s fashion programme director.
“Be beautiful and be stylish,” she said.
Prior was talking at the recent launch of Gateway’s Vodacom Durban July Preview, which will be held the night before the July 4 raceday and said this week she hoped people researched the theme and did not just think it was nautical.
“It has quite a lot of history and being invited to the ‘Captain’s Table’ means that one has to look super stylish, elegant and well dressed, that’s what we expect from race-goers at the Vodacom Durban July.
“I know many people who have given great thought to the theme and understand that it must be combined with appropriate wear for a daytime racing event.”
She believes that on the big day there will be nautical-inspired colours and shapes, adding that a hat or fascinator was essential to finish off any raceday ensemble.
People should cast their minds back to the 1920s era when cruising became popular and they were invited to the ‘Captain’s Table’, she said.
Durban designer Brenda Quin, one of the event’s eight Invited Designers, who will showcase her outfits at the raceday, has opted for the 1920s look, going for burgundy and dusty pink colours.
Some of her clients, who saw her ideas at last week’s pre-race Fashion Experience at Greyville Racecourse, liked her interpretation of the theme so much that they have now asked her to make outfits along similar lines.
“Clients are going for smart day wear as well as cocktail and evening wear, although I am not using shiny fabrics, but more woven and with matt colours and bright reds, yellows and pinks,” she said.
Award-winning designer Kathrin Kidger said one of her ideas for the day was for “glitz, glamour and opulence”, while another was for black and whites and the “spirit” of the 1939-1945 era and a third concept was for nude colours of earlier times with delicate feminine silhouettes.
Still at sea about what to wear? Why not think about the destination a ship was heading and choose something tropical, she suggested.
Another Gold Circle invited designer, Haroun Hansrot, came in for a lot of praise from fans for one particular evening dress at the Fashion Experience.
He went for all the colours of the sea, hand-dyeing the flowing fabric, with its wave effect, with seven different colours. The dress was overlaid with a gold shimmering effect to represent the midday sun on the sea. The silhouette had a mermaid effect and pieces of coral were intertwined in the beading.
Not everyone can go overboard with their raceday budgets and designers are also being asked to revamp some of the outfits in their clients’ wardrobes.
Quin aid: “You can take a basic black dress and turn it into a 1920s number by adding fringing and feathers.”
Hansrot has been adding his signature touch to American Menswear – sponsored Street Gear Diesel jeans, jacket and Converse All Star shoes for one of the Daily News’s raceday competitions.
The girl’s jeans have been hand-painted to resemble the current and the choppy seas, with one leg embroidered with shades of coral Swarovski crystals. The man’s jacket has been hand-painted in black and also includes black Swarovski crystals. The design is smudgy to resemble the grease and grime from a hard-working deck-hand.
Working his magic on the Conserve shoes, Hansrot has fashioned antique-looking cut-out work using silver thread and Swarovski crystals, “which looks almost like a net in an underwater shipwreck”, he explained.