The countdown is on for one of the most glamorous events of the year when Irish fashionistas dust down their manolos and descend in their thousands to Ballybrit for Ladies Day at the Galway Races.
With one month to go, Anthony Ryan’s fashion store, the sponsors of the Best Dressed Lady and Best Hat Competition at the event, have announced details of this year’s event and prize package.
Taking place on Thursday July 29, the Best Dressed competition has a prize fund of €20,000 with the Best Dressed Lady set to scoop a prize worth more than €12,000 - the largest prize on offer to the winner of a Best Lady Dressed competition in Ireland this year.
This year’s Best Dressed Lady will walk away with a one carat diamond solitaire pendant valued at €8,500, a shopping spree worth €1,500 from Anthony Ryans, and €1,000 in cash. She will also receive a corporate hospitality package for Galway Races October bank holiday racing festival to include dinner and a champagne reception and a Lancôme presentation gift hamper worth more than €500.
The prize for the winner of the Best Hat is a €1,500 shopping spree at Anthony Ryan’s. All finalists will be presented with a special collection of Lancôme cosmetics compliments of University Pharmacy in Newcastle.
Judging this year’s competition are Bairbre Power, the fashion editor of the Irish Independent and executive editor of the Irish Independent Weekend magazine, model and Xposé presenter Glenda Gilson and PJ Gibbons, editor, Social and Personal magazine.
They will be joined by well known faces from the Galway fashion scene Patricia McCrossan, managing director, Galway NOW magazine, Mandy Maher, Catwalk Model Agency and Fiona Durkin, fashion consultant with Anthony Ryan’s.
Celebrating 101 years in the fashion business, award winning department store Anthony Ryan’s is delighted to continue its sponsorship of the Best Dressed Lady and Best Hat Competition.
“As Galway’s longest established department store we are proud to continue our association with the Galway Races through our sponsorship of the Best Dressed Lady and Best Hat Competition on Ladies Day, “says Anthony Ryan, managing director of Anthony Ryan’s.
“First past the post for style, flamboyance and extravagant ensembles, Anthony Ryan’s Best Dressed Competition has continued to eclipse all other events and attract participation levels unmatched anywhere else in the country. This year our panel of judges will be on the look out to find a lady with an innate sense of style who can put together a winning ensemble, appropriate to both the wearer and the occasion.”
Women interested in taking part in this year’s competition are asked to arrive early as the finalists will be chosen by 2.30pm. Judges will mingle with the crowd and will invite selected finalists to the judging marquee, located adjacent to the champagne tent in the race enclosure.
The winning outfits will be announced at 3.30pm and the prize-giving ceremony will take place in the enclosure immediately after the fifth race. For further details log onto www.facebook.com/ladiesday
