Kentucky Derby: My Recap & What to Wear

Happy Monday friends! I'm so excited to share a recap of my first ever Kentucky Derby today. It was pretty cloudy and gray the day of, so unfortunately I couldn't get a bunch of pretty pictures. Buuut I did snap a few and they make me so happy to look back at and remember how fun of a day we had! Instead of going home straight from school, my roomie and 3 friends and I drove down to Louisville, Kentucky because it just so happened the derby was 2 days after we moved out. It was perfect timing and the best way to end our freshman year. Since it was our first time going to the races, we arrived around 10 am to get the full day experience. In the future, we definitely wouldn't go that early since the big race is at 7 pm and we were pretty exhausted by then. 

My roomie and I knew we wanted to wear our favorite Lilly Pulitzer shifts, but it ended up being pretty chilly so we wore our jean jackets on top. It was super muddy and wet (especially after it rained a few times), so I highly recommend wearing rain boots. Mine were packed away in my boxes being shipped home so I opted for my Tory Burch flip flops (not the best decision, but they sufficed!). Make sure to bring a clear rain poncho with you if it's supposed to rain too - I don't know what I would have done without mine! How cute are our  matching monogrammed sun hats from Marley Lilly?! 

Churchill Downs was absolutely gorgeous and even bigger than I had imagined. We all bought infield tickets (#collegebudget) but I hope sometime in the future I'll be able to have an actual seat or even be in one of the boxes! 

Right before it started down pouring on us while we waited to go into the gift shop! Definitely worth it for the Vineyard Vines derby collection though :)

Ugh I would kill to be in the covered seats or a box. How beautiful do all the people look in their suits and floppy hats?! It was so much fun seeing what everyone wore - so many girls were wearing heels or wedges while trekking through mud! 

After doing a little research beforehand, I pretty much knew what to wear for the derby. However, after going, I realized how important it is to wear shoes that can easily be washed off or that you don't care about that much. I recommend rain boots or jelly sandals like these that you can wipe off when you get home! See my guide for what to wear below:

Lilly Pulitzer shift /  white + gold shift /  monogrammed sun hat /  navy Hunter rain boots /  bow fascinator headband /  Jack Rogers jelly sandal 

I'm so grateful I was able to road trip down with friends for such a fun weekend and hope I can go to the derby again before my time is done at Indiana. If you ever have the chance to go, I couldn't recommend it more! 

Have you been to the derby before? What did you wear?

xoxo