The world-famous Kentucky Derby is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May. Though this year the race has been postponed, this springtime event can still be recreated at home for our dolls. Sure, some think the focus is on the horses, but we know it's really all about the fashion! If you were going to the Derby, we would have two questions for you:
You’ll be dressing for warm weather, so easy to wear dresses and sundresses are a great choice. Pair them with the perfect hat to keep the sun off your face and to stand out in the crowd! Whatever look you choose we're sure you'll be looking fantastic on Derby Day!
Giveaway Alert! Be sure to scroll to the end to enter our doll-sized horse giveaway!
We've put together the ultimate Derby Day Pattern Collection for Dolls, which includes great spring dresses and stylish statement hats.
Amelia Dress from Love From Lola
Primrose Dress from Buzzin Bea
Winner's Circle from Karen Lorraine Designs
Jane Ruhl of Sweet Pea Fashions shares, "I hail from Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby! While you might think that the Kentucky Derby is just a horse race, those of us who live here know that what Mardi Gras is to New Orleans, the Derby is to Louisville. It’s a three-week-long festival that begins with one of the largest fireworks shows in North America and ends when the parties break up late on Derby Day. In between, there are parades, races of all kinds (involving people, rodents, steamboats, hot air balloons, and even beds), and PARTIES!"
Get your doll ready for summer with the Palmetto Swimsuit, and then use that pattern to get her ready for the Derby! In this pattern hack, Jane shows you how to convert the top of the swimsuit into a sundress that is perfect for al fresco dining, a barn wedding, or even the Kentucky Derby!
You can create the perfect straw hat for your doll with the Springtime Straw Hat crochet pattern from Sweet Pea Fashions! This wide brimmed hat can be crocheted in synthetic raffia to look like straw, in cotton for a casual look, or in any medium weight yarn. It is very easy, worked all in single crochet, a perfect beginner project. It can be left plain or decorated to the nines.
Check out the Fabric Flower Tutorial from Sweet Pea Fashions to add fun and flare to your hat!
Derby Day Hats
Derby Day Fedora from Rondeletia
Lady Sarah Rick Rack Hat from Genniewren Designs
1940s Pleated Felt Hat from Thimbles and Acorns
Derby Day Shoes and Bags
Espadrilles from Eden Ava Couture
Art Deco Bags Accessory Pattern from DKinley Designs
Flower Sandals from Dena's Doll Designs
Fun Accessories For Your Horse
If you need a horse for your Derby Day celebration, check out the Our Generation® Doll Sized Horse!
ENTER TO WIN An Our Generation® Doll-Sized Horse!
To enter this week's contest, simply click the link below and then enter through the giveaway widget at the bottom of the blog post, there are many things you can do to earn multiple entry points!
Contest Details: You enter through the entry form that is embedded on this page and appears just below this paragraph, if you don't see it, be sure to visit the page from your desktop or an alternate browser such as Google Chrome. It may not appear on all mobile devices. The complete rules and entry details appear on the entry form. This is not a comment contest - in other words, leaving a comment on the bottom of this page is not an official entry method. The only required entry method is to leave a comment under this post and then confirm that you did it in the contest widget. One person will receive the toy horse. You can enter once, or gain multiple entries by completing the other entry methods and increase your chances of winning. Please review all Terms and Conditions on the giveaway page before entering. While we wish we could run this contest everywhere, for legal reasons it is only open to eligible residents of the U.S. and Canada, not including Rhode Island. This contest is exclusively endorsed by Liberty Jane Clothing and Pixie Faire. This contest and article are not endorsed by or affiliated with Our Generation®.
We'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell us - what kind of Derby Day look would you like to make? Commenting below and confirming your entry in the widget above gives you one entry method, the other methods are listed in the widget above, be sure to enter in as many ways as you can to receive the maximum amount of entries to win one Our Generation® Horse!
Thanks, everyone!
The Pixie Faire Team
Palmetto Swimsuit pattern hack sundress with a flower bedecked straw hat
A beautiful twirly sundress with a big beautiful hat with maybe some feathers and flowing ribbons.
This horse would be a wonderful addition to our collection. My doll would be wearing riding gear and hat.
I’d love to make a big fancy hat with a ton of flowers!
Oh, how I would LOVE to win this beautiful horse for my sweet granddaughter!!! That would give me “permission” to make horse items for her too! :)
A lovely flowered sundress with a flower decorated straw hat! Love those horses!
I would definitely want to wear the “Winner’s Circle” dress and hat! Love it!
A pink sundress, probably with a jean jacket in case it is cold (or not), a pair of sandals, and my sun hat! If I can find the right fabric, I’ll make a matching dress for one of my dolls. Another doll would be ready to ride!
I love all the dresses and hats- so Spring-y
Love the Winners Circle dress!
My horse loving granddaughter would love a horse for her doll! New duds for Derby day a bonus.
I would make sure to have a large hat to wear to the Derby!
I have a couple dolls and this is exactly what is needed. Thank you
I would wear a yellow floral dress, made from a Melody Valerie Couture pattern, of course, with a wide brimmed hat, decorated hat decorated with tulle and flowers. And we must have matching sandals!
For a day at the Kentucky Derby definitely a sun dress, big floppy hat, and sandals. Since I have a horse of my own and know what wonderful friends they can be, every AG doll needs her own horse. You can tell them anything and they love you anyway.
I love the look of the pleated felt hat with a tailored-looking dress.
Wow! A horse has been on my ‘to do’ list for a VERY long time. Thank you for this opportunity!
A cute little sundress, a flowery hat , sandals and a matching bag!
Mint Julep green sundress and a wide brim straw hat trimmed with ribbon and winning roses.
A purple floral sundress for sure but I hate hats and would choose a visor to keep the sun out of my eyes.
It would be so much fun to decorate a hat and shoes to match the horse’s garland!
Great looking fashions! All my doll needs is a horse to complete her Derby Day fun!
I would wear a cool sundress with a cute hat. AG and horse would have the standard riding attire! Thanks
I love the winner’s circle dress and a straw hat decorated with flowers!
Derby Day outfit would be a fun, flowered full-skirt wrap around dress, in purple! A wide brim sunhat with flowers on the brim, and white gloves, sandals and pearl necklace!
I would definitely wear a dress with a matching hat and spectator pumps to the derby! I love these adorable patterns- especially the hats! The horse is terrific, a must have for derby day!
I can hardly wait to make some of these super cute outfits for my Granddaughter’s Dolls. Thank you so much for all of these ideas!
I like the sundress with the fancy hat. How fun to have your own horse in the race.
I have the winner’s circle patterns for the 18" dolls and also the one for the 14.5" dolls. They are easy to do and look beautiful in a variety of materials. I am going to attempt to sew the matching hats next.
A sundress with a Lady Sarah Rick Rack Hat would be great.
A wide brimmed hat is a must for the Derby festivities.
I’m wearing a gigantic shirt that is probably give sizes bigger than I need and jeans. And I love it so much, I wish my dolls had the same.
And no, no hat, it messes up the hair
I would make a pastel floral sundress with sandals and of course a straw hat decorated to the nines.
A sundress and fancy hat of course!
I think a cream colored sundress with sandals and a straw hat would be fun
I love everything derby! I once did a term paper on the derby in the 7th grade! Although I’ve never been to the Kentucky Derby, it is on my bucket list! I’d like to win the horse to give to my great niece. She’s like me……..a real horse nut!
Must have a hat of course! And a nice spring time dress to match.
I would like a lovely floral dress with a pretty straw hat with flowers
This is such a cute idea! I think a comfy sun dress with cute sandals.
I would make a flowered dress, hat with flowers and a flowered blanket for the horse.
Love derby day! Need to make hats to match girl and doll! That would be fun at our parties!
I would make a dress and straw hat with flowers and net.
I’m making undressed and fancy hats
They are all so precious! I think my granddaughter would be thrilled with any of these
Loving the ideas and hacks for the different derby day outfits.
Winners Circle in very pale pink would be my choice for a derby dress.
A colorful fun, flowery sundress with a matching hat!
A special hat of course!! An awesome hat is a must for the Derby! I would love to win this horse for my granddaughter!
I would love to make a modern day version of the My Fair Lady outfit that Audry Hepburn wore to the Ascot races.White and black with a parasol too.
A BIG hat that would turn heads everywhere I went!
I would wear a nice stylish trouser suit with a nice hat
Definitely Julia Roberts Pretty Woman sheath dress, only mine would be classic black and white, I cannot make brown look as good as Julia did!
I would wear a flowing flowery spring dress with flowery hat
WOW! This horse is really beautiful! I would love to put him/ her in a scenario as a tribute to “Heartland”
I would wear a pink sheath dress with a soft ruffle across the bateau neckline, and a wide-brimmed hat, trimmed with silk peonies!
Id like to make a cool derby hat
Id like to make a derby hat
I would love to have a horse for my doll. I would make a saddle and a beautiful flowered dress with a bold brim hat. I would make a ribbon for 1st place to attached to my horse.
I would wear sun dress and hat to cheer them on
I would wear a bold sundress with rose print and a big hat with plenty of flowers and frills on it.
I would wear a flowing feed with flowery hat
Definitely the outfit would be chic and in black and white. Most likely she would wear a long slender dress with frilly short sleeves and slit off center front to the knee. The hat would be white with a wide brim sitting on an angle with a large black hat. All-in-all the look would be very understated and striking.
I would wear a pant suit and of course a big fancy hat.
I would wear a floral sundress and a Panama hat with a wreath of flowers around the rim
I’d really like to make a dress and hat like the one Eliza Doolittle wore to Ascot. My older granddaughters love “My Fair Lady”. Failing that, I would make a sundress, shawl, sandals, and the crocheted hat.
I would love to make a derby outfit so my doll can go to Duindigt (racetrack in the Netherlands) but i’m sure i wont win anything as i’m living to far away to win a contest.
I would like a British style hat for sure! Thanks from Florida USA
I will deffinitely wear a big straw hat with flowers!
So much fun! Thanks for a fun distraction.
Such a wonderful horse. My dolls would love to go to the derby.😊
They are all sweet !
I love the clothes for the derby, also the different hats.
I like the swimsuit turned into a sundress and hat.
I love the Amelia dress with the Rick rack hat for wearing on the Derby Day. Thanks for the awesome giveaways.😘
The Primrose dress in a floral pattern with a complementary hat would look grand!
I love all the dresses! They would be fun to sew and the hats are adorable!
Stay safe and thank you.
I’m wearing blue for the Big Ble Nation (University of Kentucky) My doll I wearing pink floral. We like hats but hate hat hair so we’ll just wear flowers in our hair!
I would wear a cotton fit n flare dress with cowboy boots and either cowboy hat or a large sun hat decorated with lots of flowers and feathers.
I love the Winner’s Circuit outfit.
I love all this dresses and hats 😍
I would wear a flowing dress in a floral print and a big hat!
Cowgirl boots and a 10 gallon hat!
Hi I would love to win this horse I like Breyer horses real well they’re just not big enough to go with the dolls. For years I’ve been a doll maker porcelain and that’s kind of gone by the wayside but I still love them anyway a horse would be a wonderful collection for my pieces
Absolutely Elsa do little the more outrageous the hat the brtter
Absolutely Elsa do little the more outrageous the hat the brtter
I think the dresses are all adorable and it gave me an idea of how to fix a little dress that the satin straps got pulled on. I will use the swim suit makeover Idea. Thanks for that. Glad I looked.
I’d wear the Winners Circle dress, the lady Sarah Rick Rack Hat and the Flower Sabdals. The outfit would give a “Springy” look. A great fashion statement for the races. And don’t forget the sunglasses!
Love the Winners Circle outfit.
I would wear a lovely flowy dress with a beautiful hat decorated with wildflowers.
Feminine and flowy.
A lovely tea dress in a dainty floral pattern, open toed sandals, spring floral straw hat, gloves of course and a small purse or clutch to tie the entire outfit together.
A royal blue just below the knee dress with red and blue shawl. Of course a wide brimmed matching blue hat with red flowers, wrist gloves and coordinating small shoulder bad…and low heeled, comfy shoes that compliment!!
I love the primrose dress with the 1940’s style hat and the flower sandals. The English saddle for the horse.
Have left one comment before this and it’s indicated that I have 0 points!
I’d make a darling sundress and bonnet for my doll for the derby…maybe cute strappy sandels.
What a fine horse is pictured, sure to win the derby. A find flowered dress with a large floppy sheer hat with lovely flowers to compliment the dress.
I would wear a floral dress! Thanks for the giveaway!
Giddy up! Love the English saddle pattern!
Black with white polka dots on a knee length dress is always a classic look at the Derby. Pair it with a wide brim black hat with white ribbon trim and a spring coat ( because the weather is always unpredictable and chilly).
I would love a historical look, with a period correct hat included!
Anthea
April 22, 2020
We would make a beautiful derby hat!