The Deighton Cup celebrates more than just a horse race, it’s also a spectacle of fashionable frocks and dapper gentlemen.
Organizers have carved out a way to honour those who take the time to put together their best bird-like frocks and most dapper ensemble for the cup with the Style Stakes best-dressed award.
And there are no shortage of potential winners at the summer gathering, known for flowing cocktails, fine food, and people-watching. Last year’s female Style Stakes winner Shannon Heth says the Deighton Cup is a rare chance to see Vancouverites dressed up.
“I was very impressed. I would say… you kind of looked around and I was [thought] ‘Wow, there is not a single person here in jeans’,” says Heth, a public relations director with her own company who managed to edge out the many other colourfully-dressed attendees for last year’s win.
It was her tailored pink and red floral Antonio Marras dress with a sweetheart neckline from South Granville’s Boboli (bought last-minute during a summer sale) and a perfectly paired pink wide-brimmed hat with a burst of orchids on the underside that pushed Heth over the finish line for the win.
The winning hat may have been her lucky charm that day – flown in from Ireland, no less. The milliner, Jennifer Wrynne, had previously worn it to the Royal Ascot in England.
“When I emailed her I said I wanted something very traditional and something in line with what people would wear to Ascot and she said happened to have this one that [she] actually wore.”
Heth pulled from tradition with the sizable hat and slim-fitting dress but added chunky jewelry to pull it into the modern age. As last year’s winner, Heth isn’t eligible for this year’s prize, but is now (along with her male counterpart) considered a Deighton Cup style ambassador. This time around, the fashion plate planned to pick up her headpiece from Hastings Hattery in Vancouver.
Male Style Stakes winner David Hennessey came out on top with a seersucker suit, pink button-up shirt, and vibrant tie. The Vancouver actor was styled for the event by his friend and style coach Bobbie Long.
The Deighton Cup was about more than just the people-watching and taking home a hefty prize for Hennessey. He loved the delicious food and the other race – the one on the track.
This year’s Style Stakes prizes will include one-of-a-kind bags from Aunts & Uncles and $500 cash courtesy Market One Media. Winners will also get to present the Deighton Cup trophy to the winner of the day’s last race and have their names engraved on the Deighton Cup for posterity. Five fashion industry judges will choose 10 finalists (five women and five men) from the photo entries. These well-coifed individuals will be brought before the crowd of 3,000 on the Style Stakes stage to flaunt their looks.
The Deighton Cup
The Deighton Cup takes place this Saturday, July 25, at Hastings Park Raceway. DeightonCup.com
