The J&B Met celebrated its 38th anniversary with the theme ‘made for the mix. It was the first time I’d attended the well-known Cape Town event and it was pretty much everything I expected: horses, high fashion, heat and of course some pretty hilarious outfits too. I must say, I thought it was loads of fun.
The weather was pretty much perfect, transitioning between sunny and overcast all day and while most of the (gigantic) venue was exposed to the sun there were also some shady spots great for chilling in with a cocktail.
Gambling’s not really my thing but in the spirit of the day I placed a few bets (on the horses with the most ridiculous names) and while Jet Explorer and Evoke Emotion proved bad choices, Futura was the overall winner of the big race, and my bet on him won me a profit of R2…yep, I still don’t get gambling.
Aside from the racing and drinking, entertainment for the general public attendees included djs throughout day, a court of food trucks, some interviews with the 2015 Miss South Africa candidates as well as the most elegant couple competition. While I questioned the outfits of some of the judges (and what exactly constituted ‘elegant’ in the context of some of the wackier outfits) I certainly think the winning couple deserved their title.
I really enjoyed the fanfare, the people-watching and the excuse to get dressed up and wear a floppy hat, and am definitely keen to go to the met again next year.
