Custom Millinery Maggie Mae Designs® has joined forces with Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Central Kentucky, to create an unparalleled online shopping experience: “Hats Off to Horses: The Road to the Derby.”
On November 1, 2009 Old Friends will auction the first of six elegant Kentucky Derby Hats handcrafted by acclaimed milliner Sally Faith Steinmann of the Massachusetts-based Maggie Mae Designs®. Each of the six Steinmann pieces will be inspired by one of the 70 retired racehorses pensioned at Old Friends’s Dream Chase Farm in Georgetown, KY.
“Hats off to Horses: The Road to the Derby” will offer a new, one-of-a-kind millinery creation for bid each month, with all of the high-fashion action leading up to the most exciting two minutes in sports.
Ms Steinmann is donating each of the hats, and 100 percent of the online proceeds will go to Old Friends, the 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (recently featured in the August 24th edition of the New York Times) founded by former Boston Globe film critic Michael Blowen.
Steinmann has been making hats for Derby and many other racing events since 1998. Her designs were seen in the winner’s circle in 2008 when Big Brown captured the Run for the Roses. Her life-long love affair with horses has inspired her to create this matchless collection of Derby Hats to benefit Old Friends.
“Making hats is a passion,” said Steinmann, “but the horses are too, and with this project they are intertwined for me. I have been wanting to do an exclusive fundraiser with just one equine-welfare organization for a long time,” adds Steinmann. “I had been corresponding with Alex Brown, who runs ‘ABR’ a horseracing website, and he suggested Old Friends–he couldn't possibly have known that they were my dream choice,” she laughs. “I was thrilled that Michael Blowen was excited about the idea, too.”
The first hat on the block will celebrate Old Friends retiree Black Tie Affair.  The now 23-year-old stallion won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1991 and subsequently the Eclipse Award for “Horse of the Year”. His earnings on the racetrack exceed $3 million.
For this superlative athlete Steinmann has crafted an extraordinary chapeau. A foundation of luscious silver dupioni silk and silver silk organza has been layered with waves of pale silk organza brims.
The chic finish: a single red rose curl on the backside. “This final touch,” adds Steinmann, “makes the hat a stunning statement from every angle.”
Similar designs by Steinmann have sold for $700-900.
One doesn’t have to be a racing fan to know that wearing a sensational hat to the Kentucky Derby is a long-standing tradition. From the owners, trainers, and Hollywood celebrities sitting on Churchill Downs’s famed Millionaire Row, to the madcap toppers seen in the infield, the “Derby Hat” parade is as fundamental as the post parade on the First Saturday in May.
For those who are not Derby-bound, the Black Tie Affair hat would be an elegant addition to any formal ensemble.
“I’m so excited about Hats Off to Horses”, said Steinmann. “I can't think of a better way to celebrate the Derby and raise money for Old Friends all at the same time!”
The first day of bidding on the “Black Tie Affair” will be November 1, 2009. Interested bidders can see the hats for sale and learn more about Steinmann by visiting www.maggiemaedesigns.com.
To bid go to the Old Friends website at www.oldfriendsequine.org and click on the eBay-store link (available for view on Oct 1st). Each new hat will be made available on the first day of every month thereafter through April 2010.
For additional information contact Cynthia Grisolia at cagrisolia@yahoo.com or Maggie Mae Designs® at info@maggie mae.com.
For more information about Old Friends see their website at www.oldfriendsequine.org or call (502) 863-1775.