--- title: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained: Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses description: Learn more about the Kentucky Derby canonical: https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-02T20:08:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:53:05.438Z article:section: Sports og:title: Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained og:description: Why all the big hats? og:url: https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f6e2bcf9ad0bea/6987ee11a988cadf496b07d4/kentucky-derby-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: An overall view of the infield before the 141st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained twitter:description: Why all the big hats? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f6e2bcf9ad0bea/6987ee11a988cadf496b07d4/kentucky-derby-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 2, 2015 8:08 PM UTC  An overall view of the infield before the 141st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky, on May 2, 2015. An overall view of the infield before the 141st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky, on May 2, 2015.Jamie Rhodes—USA Today Sports by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 2, 2015 8:08 PM UTC ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/"},"headline":"Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained","datePublished":"2015-05-02T20:08:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:53:05.438Z","description":"Learn more about the Kentucky Derby","url":"https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/","keywords":["Horse Racing"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f6e2bcf9ad0bea/6987ee11a988cadf496b07d4/kentucky-derby-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00f6e2bcf9ad0bea/6987ee11a988cadf496b07d4/kentucky-derby-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An overall view of the infield before the 141st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky","caption":"An overall view of the infield before the 141st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky","creditText":"Jamie Rhodes—USA Today Sports","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/horse-racing/","name":"Horse Racing"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3844479/hats-mint-juleps-roses-kentucky-derby-staples-explained/","name":"Hats, Mint Juleps and Roses: Kentucky Derby Staples Explained"}}]}] ```