Ladies Rally Vintage Cars 2022, a frame from Jules Verne’s books

Child Care Monaco organized its 9th edition of the Ladies Rally Vintage Cars under the theme of Steampunk Explorer, on the 11th of September, starting point Place de Casino.  This event marked the 100^th commemoration of Prince Albert I, one of the world great explorers. One noble goal: to support the education of underprivileged children in India and South Africa.

Steamy warm weather with steampunk costumes! Feminine, adventurous, glamorous, a day of exploration in the countryside and in the iconic cities of Nice and Monaco unveils itself, step by step, with its stops during the rally.

Ladies Rally Vintage Cars, a frame from Jules Verne’s books

About seventy ladies all dressed-up in retro steampunk outfits jumped into their vintage cars right from the heart of Monaco, the starting point, Place de Casino. Long lace dresses, vintage clock bags, lace ombrellas, ruffled dresses, corsets and explorer hats composed the scenery of a steampunk era call it Victorian or American “Wild West” age. A world of fantasy ready to set off for exploration was like taking a leap into Jules Verne’s stories! Place de Casino, definitely, took another allure that morning!

What is steampunk?

Steampunk is a mix of words describing the era of steam and the style of punk, first used by the American writer, Kevin Jeter, in a letter sent to Lotus magazine in 1987. He added the word “punk” to this expression making a parodic reference to the “cyberpunk”. Today, steampunk is more like a genre and a style in itself reflecting an entire era and mixed influences like Victorian, Wild West or La Belle Époque.

The steam era was characterized by its main use as an energy source instead of electricity, oil or gas. The innovations back then were a link into futuristic scenery. Just before the industrialisation took over! Some are still wondering what path we would all have taken if the industrialized future didn’t come.

The itinerary of exploration

The Discovering of the itinerary on the spot, quiz, secret keys to find in order to win  ...  were a few elements that the ladies needed to get involved into the adventure of the day. It was not only the costumes that plunged us all into the era of exploration but also small details that composed the entire puzzle. And everyone loved to take on the steps of ancient explorers and discover the autumnal landscape of Arriere Pays, the Lazaret Caves, and the world of Prince Albert I at the Oceanographic Museum.

“In the Principality, we celebrate the commemoration of 100^th years of Prince Albert I and we wanted to mark this, too, with the theme Explorer as the Prince Albert I was an explorer himself.” Martine Ackermann, the President and the organizer of this event declared.

Two vintage cars from the Prince’s cars collection

“For this charitable event, we came with two cars from the Prince’s collection: an Alpha Romeo Spider and Delahaye 135 MS. All the cars from the Prince’s collection are revisited and restored, each year, by our engineers in order to be able to be part of all kind of actions in Monaco.” Valerie Closier, director of the Prince’s Car Collection said to Stylezza.  

Princess Stephanie of Monaco awarded the best outfit prize

The final stop was at the Prince’s Palace for the final awards where the best outfit, best quiz answers and implications won. The awards were given in the presence of the officials and of Princess Stephanie of Monaco who showed her enthusiasm towards the theme and outfits of the present ladies.

Everyone is eager to find out what Martine Ackermann will prepare for the next year’s edition. And this will be known only the day of the rally! Surprise, surprise!  

By Andra Oprea