I always dreamed (at least for the last 5 years!) of such as a far-off, exotic FOTF destination as Dubai. So…. Last February I eventually decided – now or never! Hmm….. sound adventurous enough. So, what happens next after such a decision?

Ugh! I hate planning… I mean, I do love traveling…. but I do not want to think about it. All those numerous details to organise: a dress, a hat, air tickets, accommodation, shoes, accessories and so on and so forth. Quite challenging actually.

Countdown….

The Dubai world Cup is traditionally held at the end of March. By the beginning of March, my dress was ready (thanks Gail!), air tickets were booked and my hat was about half way. Other bits and pieces of the outfit, ordered online, were still arriving.

I always make my hat.

The rose pattern for the future Dubai hat was spotted on a piece of old wall paper. When I first saw this pattern, I thought it might make a good match with roses embossed on the dress fabric.

I have to say, it takes time to transfer a pattern from a piece of wall paper to a hat. Stage one, you are going to need a graphic designer. Unless you are capable of using vector graphic software. Alas, I am not. So, I had to find a graphics freelancer who could do this job for me. After a while, I published a brief for the project online. A little bit later a suitable person was found and the job was started. Another few days later and a graphics file was dispatched to a laser cutting company – this is the second stage. After receiving the cut brim, another two days were spent heating and bending the perspex brim. After much work, the happy day eventually arrived…. and I found myself holding in my hands a perfectly curved brim.

Perspex is not the easiest material to work with. Thanks goodness I did not break or over heat anything! Just a minor point was left….how to attach the brim and the hat base together…but surely it is only a matter of an evening? Hmm…. well…maybe two.

Meanwhile, a clutch and shoes arrived. Earrings still traveling somewhere…with three days to departure! What should I do? What if I use leftover of beaded flowers from dress decoration and make matching earrings by myself? Use more flowers to decorate gloves? The ideas seemed appealing, but seriously running out of time. Will have to finish the gloves in Dubai.

Two days to departure and I need to figure out is what to pack. I am a little nervous that something can be lost or broken and double everything: two pair of shoes, two pair of stockings, a spare hat, two pair of earrings etc. I’m actually terrible about over packing. I am seriously nervous about things being lost or broken.

Eventually, on the day of departure, I found myself in the airport with everything packed and sorted. Still anxious that something might be lost/stolen/delayed/broken. So, the hat and the outfit travelled with me as a cabin luggage.

Let’s skip the hours and hours spent in the plane.

Nothing interesting at all, temporarily forced into being a couch potato, armchair potato to be precise, with occasional breaks for food and sleep.

When the plane landed and we disembarked my first thought in Dubai was: “If it is this hot in spring, what is it like in summer?!” My second thought was, “Am I going to completely cook in my jacquard race dress or only partially?” This is my single most important tip for aspiring Dubai race goers: make your dress out of light weight fabric.

Many would say that everything is exaggerated in Dubai and they would be right. The tallest building on the planet is located there (Photo below).

The biggest golden ring in the world weighing in at 56 kg! Made in kept on display here

Keeping in line with this, the world’s richest race, the Dubai World Cup, is held there at the Meydan race course.

Now… If you like horse racing this is perhaps the best possible place to be. If you are thinking of having a go at the Dubai World Cup – stop thinking and just do it!

I would simply say that Meydan is the most luxurious and professional racetrack I have ever seen. Perhaps one the best racetracks in the world. If not THE best. Fantastic architectural forms and enormous structure and set up (Photo below).

Relatively easy to access, plenty of seating and no issues at all with keeping out of the sun and hot weather. Either by staying in shaded outside areas or comfortable indoor areas. The World Cup day has opening and closing ceremonies. Not what you might expect of a day at the races. They were simply awesome. I felt like I was witnessing something I had never seen before. Exciting. The closing fireworks made you grin from ear to ear like a big kid (Photo below).

In addition to all this, there was a music show after the racing. A fantastic day out. Prize money for the races on the day was around AU $14 million. However, do not try to find a bookmaker for a bet – no gambling is allowed in Dubai. A penalty of a $2000 fine or two years in jail. You can however make some predictions on a card and if you win you get a prize, but that is it. Alcohol is not really prohibited, but costly.

A glass of bubbles was about $60. Well, it was Moët et Chandon, only brand available, but still… Perhaps because of the price, there were no drunk people at the end of the day. Can’t say I minded. The architecture, horses, shows, no gambling – all gave me a totally different experience.

The Dubai FOTF has been described in detail elsewhere and I am not sure what new perspectives I can add to this. Perhaps, just a small tip. The FOTF stage is located outside in an outdoor area. Even though the contest runs from 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm, it is still HOT! Especially in the beginning. Ladies, keep it in mind preparing your outfit.

By and large, the local FOTF is similar to everywhere else. You go to the stage when it is your turn and wait afterwards in desperate hope you will hear your number and be invited back to stage to receive your prize.

Once FOTF is over…what then? Actually, the excitement continues and here is a short list of what to do after you win:

– Feel like a celebrity, be photographed and give multiple interviews to the masses of media (Photo below)

– Wake up next morning and enjoy photos of yourself in all the local newspapers.

– Enjoy the hospitality and fine cuisine in ‘Farriers’, a restaurant in the Meydan hotel, also a FOTF sponsor.

– Try to redeem your prize vouchers. Or at least some of them, before your plane takes off! All the vouchers can only be spent locally. This is not as easy as you might think because the sponsors are quite generous. So, there is a tip number two. Make arrangements to stay a few days after the event… shopping takes time. You know, it is not a problem to find a place to shop in Dubai. Huge shopping malls seem to be everywhere, encouraging people to shop until they drop and buy the latest must-have products from the big brand names.

My personal shopping marathon lasted for six hours and I was totally exhausted by the end. Recently, some shopping malls have introduced special capsules for tired shoppers where they can have a snooze. Might actually work!

Anyway, I absolutely loved what I picked up and I even had to ask shop assistants to help me with packing (Photo below). All the time spent was very worthwhile after all.

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In the VIP changing room of the Dubai shopping mall. Shop assistants help me with packaging.

But let’s leave the crowded shopping centers now and look at what else there is to do in Dubai. Here is my must do Dubai list:

1) Visit the tallest building on the planet, Burj Khalifa. If you go, I strongly recommend buying express tickets to skip the endless lines. Otherwise, you are stuck spending half a day standing in queues. Each day up to 10,000 tourists visit this place.

2) See piles of gold and countless diamonds at the Gold Market, Gold Souk

3) Breathe in the scents of the Spice Market, Spice Souk

4) Take a ride across Dubai Creek in an abra – a traditional Arabian boat (The photo above) and land in the Textile Market, Textile Souk.

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I roamed around there with hopes of finding some unusual fabric for my next FOTF outfit. However, while the fabrics were beautiful, they were rather exotic and seemed suitable for a Bollywood movie.

5) Soak up the sun on a beach

Most of beaches in Dubai are private, so the last tip is to make sure you check for a public beach near you. Sometimes you can access a beach for free, sometimes you are asked to pay a small entrance fee.

6) Try an ice-cream made out of camel milk:

Well…

Well… Well…. So…what next?

As a winner of the Hatalk international millinery contest I won a place in an international millinery course. This week long course is to be held in a creative retreat Chateau Dumas, Toulouse, France (Photo below), credit to http://www.chateaudumas.net/the-chateau).

I am going there this July. I have never been to France before and I love the idea of spending some time there. Apart from doing the course, I would love to see some French provincial medieval castles, Alps and Pyrenees. Hiking in the middle of nowhere. *You know what I mean?

The Dubai world Cup, a chateau in provincial France… these places can give such a different perspective on life.

Curious to see where hats and fashion take me next…