A fabulous time had by all

It's that time of year when race-goers top up their tans, shoehorn on towering shoes, spend a fortune on glamorous frocks, hours getting hair curled and arranging hats at perfect tilt... only to be tabloid-shamed the next day necking champagne then plummeting from high heels, exposing their nether regions and generally humiliated via unflattering photography.
Female racegoers react in the crowd during day one of the Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 6, 2017. See PA story RACING Aintree. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA WireFemale racegoers react in the crowd during day one of the Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 6, 2017. See PA story RACING Aintree. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Female racegoers react in the crowd during day one of the Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday April 6, 2017. See PA story RACING Aintree. Photo credit should read: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

It can only be Grand National time, for Merseysiders the pinnacle of the social calendar and a grand day out.

For those who probably spent their day flicking wistfully through a Boden catalogue and mowing the lawn, it’s a chance to plunder inner snob stockpiles and snigger at the girls apparently staggering around in their precious £150 Ted Baker dresses, exposing tattoos and spilling out of plunging necklines.

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Of course while gawping, they conveniently forget the party where they threw up in a plantpot or the time they necked eight tequila shots and split the dress they bought from Asos.

Then there was the cheap tattoo that seemed a really good idea at a full moon party in Thailand...

Yes, somehow, the annual Aintree shenanigans brings out the worst and the best in British behaviour and I’m not talking about those who actually attend.

It is inarguably fascinating to flick through the photos of the event online posted by the less principled websites, including the clichéd shot of an elegantly clad young lady sheathed in designer wear and the very finest police ankle-tag.

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We should be ashamed of ourselves for encouraging this sort of shaming, sure, but what we need to understand is that these women, with, as one website described,‘deep tans and very plunging necklines’ are having a fabulous time.

Much better than most of us in fact.

Merseyside is an area where dressing up is a way of life and an event like the National, needs an extra special effort.

Race-goers dress up to look fab and feel fab even if not everybody gets the look quite right and it goes downhill after a few wines.

Just like every wedding reception we’ve ever been to.