It was a great day for a Derby!

I love the Kentucky Derby. The first time I saw the race was a couple years ago and I was totally hooked. For such a fast race, it's so worth seeing. I had no idea how beautiful the horses were when they raced until I actually saw them. I love all the festivities, the mint juleps and of course I love the hats!

(please forgive the silly look I have.)

My favorite place to be for the race and the party is at the Bell House in Brooklyn. There is always a lot of people, most of them dressed up. This year there were more hats by far then the last couple of years. (People were inspired by the Royal Wedding, maybe?) It's been a crazy week for me in the studio, so many fun projects that I'm finishing up and starting, but late the other night I made sure to make up something for my head. Because honestly, when else can you wear a big messy nest of tulle on your head and call it a hat? Not nearly often enough I say.

There were all kinds of hats in attendance, formal hats, traditional hats, men in hats, hats shaped like horses. After the race, most of us stayed around to see the live band Karaoke band, Bunny England and the New Originals play. What could be more fun then horse races and playing rock stars on a beautiful spring day?!

All the photos above and more can be found here.