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Show Pony Q&A

The two fillies behind Show Pony Millinery

Liv Kinley and Carrie Broomhall, the creative duo creating outstanding race-day headwear, share their love of NZ Cup and Show Week.

 

How many times have you been to NZ Cup & Show Week?

We’ve been attending NZ Cup & Show Week for as long as we can remember. It’s a real family tradition for us and, even if we’ve been living elsewhere, have been pregnant or even fighting cancer, we still do whatever we can to ensure we’re at our city’s big week.

 

What are your top tips for surviving the week?

Order your NZ Cup Day boot party food online and pick up direct from the produce suppliers – saving yourself hours trawling round the aisles and wondering what to buy is a game changer when you're flat out!

If you’re keen to go for a designer headpiece, make sure you get in early. Milliners’ custom-design spaces generally book out well in advance and topping up their ready-to-wear ranges can take less priority in peak season so you may miss out and have to make do with wearing the same chain store piece half the racecourse is wearing.

Book your appointments early and at your usual ‘go-tos’ – trust us when we say you don’t want to be the person getting a fake tan from the only place with plenty of free appointment slots (there will be a reason why they’re not booked out over Cup Week!).

Finally, if you see an outfit you love, no matter what time of year it is or where in the world you are, buy it and save yourself the stress later down the track when all of a sudden it’s NZ Cup & Show Week and you have nothing to wear!

 

What’s your funniest (or most embarrassing!) memory from Cup & Show Week?

Making a headpiece for one of us to wear in the car on the way to NZ Cup Day, only to be stopped while walking into the course and photographed for a best-dressed list… with needle and thread carefully hidden in palm of hand (if only they knew the panic that went on behind the scenes!).

Mistaking the then-Labour Leader Andrew Little for a journalist we thought we knew – despite the fact he was introduced to us with press secretaries and security in tow on New Zealand Cup Day.

Asking clients to come view their custom designs in a pseudo-studio based in a ward of Christchurch Hospital after complications from life post-cancer saw Carrie admitted there two days out from the start of NZ Cup & Show Week.

 

Where are we most likely to find you on NZ Cup Day?

The opportunity to catch up with old friends is a huge drawcard of NZ Cup & Show Week – it’s like anyone who ever lived in Christchurch converges on the city for it. As a result, this year, like all others, you’ll find us hosting a private boot party in the members’ carpark on NZ Cup Day.

While we don’t have a family horse racing this year, we’ll also make sure we sneak away from the picnic and spend some time with Mum and Dad watching the actual races too!

 

Where do you look to for Show Week outfits?

We go to a lot of race meetings throughout the year so sometimes recycle outfits for different area codes (shock horror!). However, as we tend to have quite a few functions to attend over the week, we need a number of outfits – so new ones are always required!  While most of these are planned and are generally a mix of online purchases (Net-A-Porter, ASOS & The Iconic to name a few) and New Zealand designers, we always have a need for at least one ‘last minute’ outfit. A favourite brand is Cooper Street, which has great cuts for Kiwi women, prints that are unique to the brand and styles that are totally racewear appropriate, which is absolutely key.

 

 

 

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