Riding on the coattails of the Emmy’s yesterday morning, last night Melbourne’s Crown Casino played host to the annual AFL Brownlow medal award night.

I don’t know why but everytime there’s an award night the media try to make out like Australian ‘celebrities’ have some sort of glamorous fashion sense. As the Logies and all the other annual awards nights in Australia consistently show, the truth couldn’t be further removed.

I mean cmon, Crown doesn’t even have a red carpet – IT’S BLUE!

I’m not going to pretend like I’m some fashion guru or authority but I do know what makes me cringe. Last night’s Brownlow award was a perfect example of why Australia should keep our awards nights to ourselves.



The guys

geelong-players-in-suits

Although Tom Harley on the right is rocking his suit, the other three clearly have that uncomfortable schoolboy look in their eyes. I imagine Joel Selwood, Stephen Johnson and Andre Mackie would be much more comfortable running around in fluoro coloured polo shirts posing at a bar.

Having poor fashion designer Godwin Hili do up your tie isn’t really helping either guys.



The girls

Chantelle-Raleigh-and-Hamish-McIntosh

Chantelle Raleigh on the right here is a perfect example of why you should roadtest your dress before leaving the house (or preferably in the store before you buy it).

Functionality issues aside I do like the dress though provided you have the legs to pull it off which clearly Raleigh does. I guess if someone is going to have a potential wardrobe malfunction then it’s probably a good thing it’s her.

Meanwhile I can’t decide whether Hamish McIntosh is helplessly looking on or simply making the most of the moment.

Brynne-Gordon Oh dear. Whoever told Brynne Gordon this was a good look needs hand in their fashion license immediately.

Seriously nobody thought to tell Gordon that looking like a Las Vegas Stripper dressed for the winter wasn’t a good idea?

Sure plastic sculpted breasts deserve their moment in the spotlight as much as any other breasts but there’s a time and a place.

…oh my god IT’S A SEQUIN BIKINI!

I’m going to hope that Gordon had someone tell her what to wear and that this wasn’t an organic creation. Even if it was, I hope she seriously considers hiring someone and then firing them just so she can claim it wasn’t her idea. That’s a career ender costume right there.

Tania-Hird You know those curtains your parents used to hang over their windows? You might want to call them up just to check they’re still there, it seems Tania Hird has raided some poor pensioners lounge room.

The shape of the dress is nice and Tania’s body definitely does it justice, but why she chose a Franco Cozzo print I’ll never know.

Justine-VineyRolling it back further into the 80′s comes Justine Viney.

When you call your parents to check if their curtains are still there get them to have a look at the couch too, they might just find that Justine’s stolen their cover.

Hopefully whichever opshop Justine dug that dress out of does returns.

Donna-JohnsonI don’t know if there was a gale force wind behind Donna Johnson but she seems pretty confident there rocking the power stance, all she needs is an air guitar.

Note to women everywhere: If you’re being photographed in a dress keep those legs closed!

As for the dress, it left me wanting a big tub of chocolate icecream…

Sarah-WilliamsonI’ve been told the biggest fear of wearing a dress out is walking back into the room after a toilet break with some paper on your tail.

Sarah Williamson seems to have perfectly captured this feeling and encapsulated it into a dress. Now you too can spend the night with a mobile shit stain following you around.

Honestly which designer thought it’d be a good idea to create a ‘I just walked through a puddle of sewerage and ruined my dress’ look?

The stain even travels up the dress giving it that really soaked in look.

Catherine-Chappell-Hayley-MacCann-Tania-Buckley

(from left to right)

Catherine Chappell: Again with the shiny? Jesus I know we’re in the middle of a financial crisis but do we really need to remake household furnishings into clothing?

Hayley MacCann: The studs on this dress make it look like a breastplate armour piece, very Xena Warrior Princess. Also, if you pay attention you’ll note the studs create arrows that all point to Hayley’s vagina (uh… not that I was paying attention or anything).

Tania Buckely: Unless you’re auditioning for a Peter Pan movie – NO!


Thankfully not all of the women at the Brownlow ceremony were fashion disasters. Some of them actually looked pretty nice!

Rebecca-Twigley-Lauren-Tscharke-Emily-Marshall

(again, from left to right)

Rebecca Twigley: I know I know, plastic fantastic and all but credit given where credit is due. That’s a nice blended dress and she’s definitely got the figure to pull it off.

Lauren Tscharke: Lauren’s dress I think was the most ‘elegant’ out of all the ladies. It’s simple, has a rich colour and flows nicely.

Emily Marshall: Love the dark colour contrast. After the horrendousness of Gordon it was nice to see a darker tone dress done properly. Love heart attachment thing is slightly cheesy but I guess it adds to the cuteness.


All in all there were by far many more misses then there were hits on the night. I’m not sure if this is because of a lack of fashionable dresses in Australia or crappy choices made by organisers and/or the women themselves.

How about next year we just let the guys run around in tshirts and boardies and fly in some professionals to pick out wardrobes for the women?

It’s not like it could be any worse.

You can see the full Brownlow Gallery over at news.com.au.


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