Three finalists emerged from the day’s huge field, each with a distinctly different take on racewear.
Selina McCloskey wore a sleeveless, ankle-length column dress in textured gold brocade, with a particularly special history: it had belonged to her grandmother in the 1960s. Milliner Samantha Cook reworked fabric from the original matching jacket to create an embellished pillbox headpiece with a birdcage veil. White lace gloves, pointed gold pumps and a half-moon clutch completed the look.
Dayna O’Gorman chose a high-necked maxi dress in a painterly floral print of pink, orange and green against lilac, topped with a wide-brimmed hot-pink hat worn at an angle.
Nova Birrell wore a romantic powder-blue and silver floral dress with puffed sleeves, a necktie and a full skirt, finished with a sculptural powder-blue hat and matching ruched bag. Like McCloskey’s ensemble, her outfit had a family story behind it, handmade with help from her mother and grandmother.
