--- title: Kentucky Derby Hats: Fashion Inspiration From 1945 description: These photographs—which were never published in LIFE—will get you in the race-day mood canonical: https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-06T12:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:30.016Z og:title: Kentucky Derby Hats: Fashion Inspiration From 1945 og:description: These photographs—which were never published in LIFE—will get you in the race-day mood og:url: https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93a2a257b8662748/69889066196cf48d3803b544/160422-racing-fashion-10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Fashion for the Races 1945 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kentucky Derby Hats: Fashion Inspiration From 1945 twitter:description: These photographs—which were never published in LIFE—will get you in the race-day mood twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93a2a257b8662748/69889066196cf48d3803b544/160422-racing-fashion-10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kentucky Derby Fashion Inspiration From 1945 by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 6, 2016 12:00 PM UTC  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Fashion at the horse races, 1945.Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) May 6, 2016 12:00 PM UTC The horses that will take to track at the Kentucky Derby on May 7 are supposed to be the stars of the show. And, sure, technically, they are. But as always, they will have some competition for spectators’ attentions: the hats. **MORE:** [Why It Seems Like Triple Crown Victories Cluster Together](http://time.com/3901397/triple-crown-history/) From silly to frilly, the race-day hat has become a mainstay (and, to some, a [good-luck charm](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ruq7BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT13&dq=kentucky+derby+hats+good+luck&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTqKbpgbLMAhWKWz4KHXchBJwQ6AEILzAA#v=onepage&q=kentucky%20derby%20hats%20good%20luck&f=false)). But, while today’s hats can get a bit [outrageous](http://time.com/3844266/kentucky-derby-best-hats/), the tradition of hats at the races is a longstanding one. In 1945, LIFE photographer Nina Leen chronicled some of that year’s best hats—but the exact details of the story have been lost to time. The photographs in the gallery above never ran in LIFE, and notes about where they were shot were not preserved. A few clues can be found in the photos: a woman holds a program on which a few horses’ names can be read—SAFETY EDGE, WAVERLY, BLUE SWEEP—and some of the features of the track, like the letters U and L on a balcony, are clear. Information about these photos remains a mystery to us (if you have any ideas, you can find us on Twitter at [@LIFE](http://twitter.com/LIFE)) but one thing is clear: when it comes to _show_ing off your hat, the races are the _place_ to _win_. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fashion at the horse races, 1945. Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/"},"headline":"Kentucky Derby Fashion Inspiration From 1945","datePublished":"2016-05-06T12:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:30.016Z","description":"These photographs—which were never published in LIFE—will get you in the race-day mood","url":"https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/","keywords":["fashion","photography","LIFE Magazine","1945","Nina Leen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93a2a257b8662748/69889066196cf48d3803b544/160422-racing-fashion-10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Liz Ronk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93a2a257b8662748/69889066196cf48d3803b544/160422-racing-fashion-10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fashion for the Races 1945","caption":"Fashion at the horse races, 1945.","creditText":"Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","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":"/tag/fashion/","name":"fashion"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4305256/kentucky-derby-hats-1945/","name":"Kentucky Derby Fashion Inspiration From 1945"}}]}] ```