Derby Day! My Boho Chic Meets Plus Size Pin Up Style Kentucky Derby Outfit Featuring My Floppy Leopard Print Hat
I love love love wearing fancy hats, so getting dressed up for Kentucky Derby is right in my wheelhouse. I have a fairly good collection of hats, too.
Why It Works as a Kentucky Derby Outfit
I love pinup style but I also love boho chic. For a Kentucky Derby Day Outfit I mixed both looks. The pink and yellow floral baby doll dress is the boho element. I gave it a pinup spin with leopard print accents, including a leopard print floppy hat for the Kentucky Derby, purchased in the French Market of New Orleans for Mardi Gras 2013.
Cheap Pin Up Fashion Elements, Or How I Made a Fool of Myself on the Mississippi River
The star of the outfit show is that floppy felt hat. I found it on clearance at a stall in New Orleans's French Market, by the Mississippi River, at the end of the French Quarter. When I bought it, I immediately wore it on a ferry tour I took right after my purchase. As I walked down the steps on the ferry, the wind picked up and it flew off my head! Worse, in my attempt to catch it, I threw my hands up in the air, despite having a full Jack and Ginger in my hand (it was Mardi Gras, after all). This drink then showered a large crowd of young people who were sitting on a bench behind me. I WAS MORTIFIED. The women were PISSED and then men were laughing so hard at what I dork I was. In a panic I just kept apologizing and trying to make it better by wiping things up with my flimsy cocktailnapkin and the women were extra mad that this idiot lady was now touching them with a napkin. I grabbed my hat and ran away. My life is a sitcom sometimes.
Plus Size Pin Up Vintage Styling Tips
The leopard print mixes a pin up flair with the boho elements of the baby doll dress and floppy hat. By adding a belt to the baby doll dress it give it more form fitting shape than just flowy, to make a pin up silhouette. The pigtails can be considered both pin up and boho chic elements.
Kentucky Derby Boho Pinup Plus Size Outfit Details
- Leopard print floppy felt hat - $20, French Market in New Orleans
- Cardigan - Marshalls, $7 (clearance sale!)
- Baby doll dress - Old Navy $10 plus 20% employee discount (I miss my employee discount)
- Leggings - Old Navy, $8
- Belt - Savers Thrift Store, $4
- Black bead string necklace - handmade by me