The Melbourne Cup Trophy was welcomed to Brisbane last Thursday with a full day of celebrations hosted by Mental Illness Fellowship Queensland. A community breakfast, tour of the local health precinct and corporate luncheon provided the Brisbane community with a chance to experience the magic of the $175,000, 18-carat gold Emirates Melbourne Cup Trophy.
Coinciding with MIFQ’s 30th birthday, the event also helped create an avenue to raise awareness of mental health issues in the community and the role MIFQ plays in supporting people. Indulge had the opportunity to speak with the owner of The Hat Box, Dale Olsson who donated two hats to be auctioned off at the event.
Dale Olsson has been the owner of the Hat Box in the Brisbane Arcade for the past 11 years, pursuing her love of hats and racing after being a high school teacher. The hats that Dale auctioned off at the event included a ladies yellow wide brimmed hat that went for $350 and a man’s Akubra hat. According to Dale, big hats are on the agenda for the upcoming racing season along with every shade of pink and cobalt blue.
“For the last few years at Melbourne Cup time we’d be wearing little hats that you call perches, but I’m finding that this year the trend has been towards big hats again. So we’ve made quite a few large brimmed hats and they do look beautiful, they’re reminiscent of Gone with the Wind and all those lovely feminine romantic styles,” she said.
Dale has 15 milliners from all over Australia that make exclusive, original designs for The Hat Box and with many of her clients entering fashions in the field they want their hats to be one of a kind. Over the 11 years that she’s owned the brand, Dale said that one standout experience was making the hat for Anna Bligh when the Queen came to town.
Her golden tip for wearing a hat to the races is to never take it off and to make sure it’s well anchored on and bobby pinned in place. “There’s nothing worse than having it fall off,” she said.
Published on October 5, 2015 on Indulge Magazine
Emily Facoory 