Carolina Cup Week: Today's the Day!

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Can't wait to see everyone's well-dressed, hat-covered, CAROLINA CUP LOVING faces!

For tips, tricks, and photos, follow me on Twitter (@letsbepreppy) and Instagram (@letsbepreppy) for updates all day long!

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: The Dress

Girls take a long time in choosing an outfit, we know that. Imagine Christmas plus warm weather plus a day long tailgate plus mimosas plus hats and you've got the beginning of the gist of Carolina Cup.

Choosing a dress for Cup is no easy task. I take awhile in deciding my dress. Carefully evaluating all my options. Trying on tons and tons and tons of different styles. Do you go strapless? Straps? Stripes? Solids? Prints? Ruffles? Longer hems? Peplum? Embellishments?

And that's only after you've made the choice of designer. Lilly is the obvious choice, and 95% of stylish Cup attendees will be in a Lilly Pulitzer dress dating back to 2003 until the last 3/25 shipment.

There are so many choices! After having worked a full Cup season, these are the front-runners of dresses:

The Lowe Dress in Pretty Pink Tootie was hands down the most popular dress that people were buying for Cup! It is SO stinking cute on, and we even suggested monogramming the seersucker part on top!

The Payton Dress was second ONLY to the Lowe Dress. This sweet strapless number was so popular, and I have to think it's due to all the faaaaaabulous colors in the print. They really knocked it out of the park with this floral look.

Although a late arriver to the game, the Lonnie Dress was another big player! This dress was really elevated when you added a belt. Knockout!

Valentina Dress--pink seersucker, TDF. Done and done.

The Sandrine Dress in Shorely Blue Tossing the Line was an early front-runner. There are fun embellishments and the back is a big V. So so so cute, but definitely better for the shorter gals!

The Adeline Dress in my book is a "life dress". I have this from last year and I was elated that it was brought back for Cup '13--apparently so was everyone else! This was snatched up SO quick!

The Nina Dress in Tootie was another popular choice! As you can see, the best part about this shift is the ADORABLE back and zipper!

I have also been TIGHT-LIPPED about my own dress, but I am SO excited to announce that I am wearing the Lowe Dress in POP!:

As soon as I saw this dress on the back cover of the Spring catalog, I knew this was going to be my Cup dress! I ordered it and had to do a bit of altering to make it Cup-ready, but I. Am. In. Love. I look forward to taking LOTS of pictures with anyone who has made the same choice as me, because, we all know that great minds think alike! This dress and print are one of my favorites I've seen in recent years, and I am THRILLED to be wearing this number!

What are you wearing? Is you dress on the short list? Do spill the beans...I did!

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: The Course & Races

Carolina Cup takes place at a quaint racetrack in Camden, SC at Springdale Race Course. It's about 35-45 minutes out of Columbia and attracts attendees from Florida to Virginia! I've actually met students from as far away as Virginia Tech and Florida State University. I've heard rumors of a bus of Arizona fraternity brothers making it for the weekend this year as well!

Taken from the Carolina Cup website, here's a little bit of the Cup history:

Springdale Race Course is situated just on the outskirts of town, and hosts two of the most important steeplechases on the yearly calendar – the extremely popular Carolina Cup in the spring and the prestigious Colonial Cup in the autumn.  Interestingly, in a state where pari-mutuel betting is not allowed, more than 60,000 people routinely show up and have a wonderful time at the races. Clearly, going racing in the South is not just about the chance to win a bet.

Camden is well known as a training center for racehorses from the Eastern part of the U.S., and throughout the world. With its spacious, well maintained grounds laid out in the European training style, there are a variety of places in which to train and exercise the substantial horse population. Hall of Fame trainers have habitually sent their horses to Camden for a winter rest, or some rehab following an injury. It is also where young Thoroughbreds can begin their early training in a relaxed atmosphere away from the sometimes frenetic and more confined space of the racing facilities in major urban cities, such as New York and Miami. Many champion racehorses have called Camden home at some point during their careers, including the incomparable Ruffian.

There are also several areas of Springdale including the Grandstand (pictured above), Infield, Rail areas, Paddock and College Park. When you think Carolina Cup, depending on your age, you'll think of any of these locations. College Park is the big college area filled with tents while the Grandstand is your nicest area of the course. 

Where is your group staying? Do you want to see any of the races?

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: The Hat

It's no secret that Carolina Cup is an event where a mantra is "Go big or go home." This is perfectly understood in your choice of a hat!

Last year I had that pink striped floppy hat, and two years ago I had a plain straw hat from Belk with a bow that I added myself:

It actually came initially attached with the most heinous zebra-y/giraffe-y scarf that I took off and then added the bow in place of! Keep that in mind while searching for hats--most attached scarves are removable with scissors and a little elbow grease!

The most important part about your hat is matching it with your dress of course! There are so many different options for Cup hats that you can choose!

Marley Lilly has certainly become a force to be reckoned with as far as Cup hat choices go! They have SO many different color options that you are bound to find one that will match your dress. They even offer monogramming too to make it personal!

Target has great options in-store if you need a hat in a pinch! What's great about a plain, straw hat like this one, is that you can add a ribbon to match your dress. Like I said, that's what I did two years ago and it was great! I tied a false bow, and glued it down with fabric glue--I even added a few staples in invisible spots to make it REALLY secure!

Yet again, the bigger the better! This hat from Amazon has my name all over it! I'd even love to rock this one AFTER the Cup!

What does your hat look like? Are you added fun accessories like a bow or sash?

ANYONE have any good suggestions on how to avoid hat head also? LET ME KNOW!

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: The Holiday

Carolina Cup is the biggest party of the spring in South Carolina!

It's our version of the Kentucky Derby in Camden, SC!

It's a horse-race that starts with mimosas in the morning, party busses to the race course, and popping from tent to tent throughout the day!

Students from almost all the local schools attend, with some making a weekend or entire 24-hour event of the day. It's one of my FAVORITE events each spring and is THE place to see and be seen!

Last year, it started out in the POURING rain, but eventually the day brightened up!

One of my favorite excerpts about the Cup, from Columbia Living Magazine says, "The label “clothes horse” may have been first applied at the Cup; seersucker and madras plaid make new debuts there each year. And Palm Beach shades, especially Lilly Pulitzer’s signature pinks and greens, are sported by sorority sisters and once-preppy matrons who, in the ‘60s, affirmed the venerable Florida designer’s belief that tropical colors and patterns make posh resort attire of simple sundresses."

This Cup week will cover EVERYTHING you can think of about the Cup! Any questions? Tweet them at me @letsbepreppy!!

Will you be there?

xxKatie

Carolina Cup Week: Opening

You know the famous Andy Williams song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"?

Well hum that as you read posts for the next week! Because, y'all it IS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! 

It's Carolina Cup week! Carolina Cup is on Saturday and I for one, am SO excited!

Last year I had the opportunity to be a part of the Lilly Pulitzer corporate team of workers who helped man the Lilly tent at Cup! I will be returning again this year to be at that same post, so I can't wait to see some Cup-loving familiar LBP faces again! We had so much fun last year, even if the day did start out with pouring rain--I swear my boots were famous that day!

This week will be devoted to all the different aspects of Carolina Cup for those of you who may not be familiar--you will be fully educated in Carolina Cup by the time it rolls around on Saturday!

xxKatie