As Ladies’ Day at the Races draws near, Hedland’s clothing stores are suffering a mixed bag of dress demand

Ladies’ Day at the Port Hedland races is right around the corner and the story from the town’s top clothing companies could not be more different as they look to kit out Hedland’s women in the finest garments. On July 22 Ladies’ Day returns for the first time since 2021 and, if previous events are anything to go by, it will rival the extravagance of the Melbourne Cup. Women from all over will descend on the North West town dressed head to tail in some of the finest garments in the Pilbara. Yet as the event draws closer, two of the town’s biggest clothes stores have faced opposite challenges. One has had too much demand and one not enough. Ginger Fox and Sanctum Co are two marquee clothes shops in Port Hedland and both will be sponsoring the Fashions of the Field competition during Ladies’ Day. Katie Hodgson runs the Ginger Fox, at Port Hedland Boulevard, which sells women’s and men’s clothes and accessories. She said that with Ladies’ Day fast approaching she had never seen demand so high for her products. “There’s definitely been more interest and not just for dresses but shoes, accessories, hats, bags earrings and all types of other things,” Ms Hodgson said. “I’ve just had five messages this morning, ‘do you have shoes for this dress or a hat for this dress?” Ginger Fox is an Australian-inspired store and Ms Hodgson tries to source her clothes from Australian suppliers. Ms Hodgson said she believed demand was so high because there was no Ladies’ Day in 2022. “The vibe is high, and everyone’s just excited to have somewhere to go, dress up, and socialise with other people again,” she said. “It’s been lacking recently and obviously there is a new building as well so there’s more reason to dress up and look forward to something.” Given the Marble Bar Races is on Saturday (July 8) Ms Hodgson said her business had never been more busy. But the experience hasn’t been the same for every retailer in town. Sanctum Co is also sponsoring the Fashions of the Fields at Ladies’ Day and owner Amanda Sweet said she hadn’t experienced a big demand for dresses for the event and was surprised so far at the lack of business. “I haven’t experienced many people buying yet,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if people were leaving it until the last minute or what the go was.” Ms Sweet started her shop to give people an ethical bricks-and-mortar clothing store because she thought there was a market for it in town. She believes most people are interested in buying clothes online and this was the same for Ladies’ Day dresses. “I think a lot of people buy online, and I quite like buying online as well, but I thought I could change people’s tune,” Ms Sweet said. “But I think people really like having options.” Ms Sweet said many women did not dress up for the event which could be a reason for her lack of business. “You’ve got your ladies that compete in the Fashions of the Field and obviously they are dressed to the nines and look like they are attending the Melbourne Cup, which is really cool,” she said. “But then you’ve got chicks that are just in an Armin dress with an Akubra hat, and some boots. “You also have people that wear denim shorts, so you can wear anything you want to our races, which is really cool. You can be casual as you want or as dressed up as you want.” Any woman who wins a Fashions on the Field at a regional race club can be nominated for the State final competition. About 700 people went to the first two races this year and the Port Hedland Turf Club expects 1800 people to turn up for Ladies’ Day 2023, making it one of the biggest yet.