Janetta Mackay: Cheers to the Cup

Myer Fashions on the Field Women's Racewear winners, first place Brodie Worrell (C), first runner up, Kiwi Olivia Moor (L) and second runner up Stacie Kidner (R). Picture / Getty Images

Fashions, gambling and fun, not necessarily all on the same day, that was what a veteran of Flemington promised me as I had my nails painted rose gold.

It starts with dress-ups on Derby Day, moves on to splashing the cash on Cup Day, followed by the week's social spin-out on Oaks Day.

It's Melbourne Cup Carnival I'm talking about, one of those now truly international drawcards that has long been on my bucket list. The old cliche about the Cup being the race that stops two nations holds true if you consider how many offices in New Zealand run a sweepstake for it on the first Tuesday of November.

But to really appreciate the scale of the event and the hundreds of millions of dollars it generates for Victoria's economy you have to be in Melbourne.

This year, I am. And with a ringside seat at the race-course. I'm lucky enough to be a guest in the G H Mumm marquee. The French champagne house is the official tipple at the track and expects around 65,000 glasses of the stuff to be drunk over four days of racing - I'll do my best to contribute.

Mostly, though, I am looking forward to seeing how everyone frocks up. Over the years, I've been to a fair few race meetings, judged Fashions in the Field competitions in Auckland and Christchurch and written about the peculiar etiquette of race-day dressing. I love millinery and have a wardrobe crammed full of hatboxes. I can give you a tip on the best long-wear lipstick, but not the best stayer in the $5 million race.

Although Cup Day at Flemington is a first for me, I've lived in the city and seen the trains filled with staggering racegoers worse for wear, stilettos thrown over their shoulders. This time I'm anticipating a more glamorous affair. So, too, the Victoria Racing Club, which has banned crop tops from much of the racecourse.

Judging by the turnout at Derby Day, cut-outs are less in vogue than culottes, with the favourite look being the 50s full skirt. The biggest fashion faux pas of the day was that four, yes, four, best-dressed competitors turned up in the same sculptural white Toni Maticevski dress. Even that had a happy ending: one of them won the event. New Zealander Olivia Moor was named first runner-up wearing the same hat that helped her to the Prix de Fashion prize at Ellerslie in March.

(Read more about Olivia Moor here.)

I'm keeping it simple, wearing a Kate Sylvester dress that has had a previous outing at the Boxing Day races at Ellerslie, a hat I bought at David Jones on sale after a previous Melbourne race season and shoes I know I can stand in for more than a few hours. I'll be carrying a Trelise Cooper linen coat I bought from her outlet shop just before flying over because the one thing I remembered you can always bet on in Melbourne is erratic weather.

- VIVA