Oaks Day best dressed: Pale posers and peacocks in the gilded Birdcage

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Spring was a late bloomer at the Melbourne Cup carnival, finally arriving with blue skies on Oaks Day.

A cool palette replaced traditional florals for this racing season’s strongest looks.

Dorit Kemsley in Victoria Beckham

Reality television star Dorit Kemsley must have paid close attention to the Victoria Beckham documentary on Netflix.

Dorit Kemsley, of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in Victoria Beckham, arrives at the Crown marquee.

Kemsley made sure her Victoria Beckham dress packed a punch for those following her into the marquee.

Arriving at the Crown marquee in a pale blue halter-neck dress with a black train from the former Spice Girl’s label, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star reveals that she has applied a personal touch to the design.

“I added it because I wanted to pay attention to the dress codes with florals,” Kemsley says. “I took this rosette off a fascinator and attached it the dress.”

Beckham would approve. She revealed in the documentary that she had done the same thing to a dress by Donatella Versace early in her career.

Having worked as a swimwear designer, Kemsley knows her way around a needle and thread. She’s equally familiar with Champagne towers, like the one at the entry to the Crown marquee, from her TV experience. For her Australian social debut, she was eager to play by the rules.

“When it comes to fashion, if you know me, you know,” she says. “I only know one way of working, and that’s being committed, committed, committed.”

Kemsley hopes that fans of the Housewives franchise will respond to the strong image of womanhood she projects.

“I wanted it to be empowering and chic but strong,” she says from beneath her black Emily London hat.

Chic and strength are something that Kemsley and the designer of her old Hollywood dress have in common, but now that Victoria’s husband, David, has been knighted, the designer has an official title and can be called Lady Beckham.

“Now, who wouldn’t like that?” Kemsley says, making do with aristocratic opera gloves.

Kate Waterhouse in Mariam Seddiq

“My feet are ready for flat shoes all next week,” says racing royalty Kate Waterhouse. Until then, it’s sky-high Jimmy Choo heels and an oyster mini-dress with a dramatic bustle and train from Sydney designer Mariam Seddiq.

Kate Waterhouse in a Mariam Seddiq dress with Jimmy Choo accessories.

Waterhouse shows off the bustle and train of her Mariam Seddiq dress.

“I was feeling a ’50s and ’60s vibe for this custom design, so we pushed the boundaries, and the team added a fringe to my hair,” Waterhouse says. While the glamour will last until the final race, the false fringe may not.

“I keep wanting to push it out of my eyes.”

While Waterhouse is Carnaby Street cool at the front, from behind she could be mistaken for an extra from The Gilded Age ascending the stairs to the third floor of the Landmark by Lexus pavilion.

“The drama was going to be from the hips, but I’ve done a bit of that so far this week,” she says. “I thought a bustle was a fresh approach.”

On the final step, those flats shoes seem so far away.

Sarah Ellen in Effie Kats

Model-turned-musician Sarah Ellen has brought cool back to the Birdcage. The social media star and front person of the band Pamela belongs to a cool clique that normally says nup to the Cup. It’s only her second visit to Flemington Racecourse, but she’s full of praise for racewear.

“I was expecting it all to be a bit more over the top,” Ellen says. “There’s a great deal of restraint and beauty.

Birdcage ambassador Sarah Ellen in Effie Kats on Oaks Day.

Ellen’s vintage black hat was found in London.

“It’s less about the florals this year and more about interesting silhouettes, colour palettes and headwear.”

For Oaks Day inspiration, Ellen turned to style icon Jackie Kennedy with her pale pink sleeveless dress from Melbourne designer Effie Kats.

“I wanted it to feel a little bit rock ′n’ roll, so I added black accessories, and only black,” she says.

Nunzio Miano in Gucci and Zara

Artist Nunzio Miano isn’t a regular racegoer, but has good reason to be at Oaks Day.

Nunzio Miano in Gucci, Pucci, vintage and Zara.

“If you go to the toilets in Lexus, you will see my paintings on the walls,” Miano says.

As for his approach to suiting up?

“It’s a little bit vintage Gucci, a little bit Pucci and some very pedestrian retail items,” Miano says. “I’m from Melbourne and I’m Italian, so dressing like this is what I do every day.”

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