While there were traditional wide skirts, florals and hats in the women’s, there was also a blazer and pants.

April Kernaghan, dressed in a navy suede jacket from men’s clothing store yd, checkered shirt and black pants, was knocked out in one of the final heats, but her outfit didn’t go unnoticed.

“I came in and thought, ‘Why not go in the fashions? A girl in a suit’,” she said.

“I fell in love with the suede material of the jacket.”

The winning outfit was a statement in its own way, with Albury’s Chloe Laundess crowned Myer Centrepoint Lady of the Lady in a black and white strapless dress with statement frilled sleeves and a black hat by Delphine Nicholson.

“A couple of months ago I got the dress in Melbourne; the brand is Atoir and they are starting to be stocked here locally,” she said.

“There’s a lot of winners here today, I definitely didn’t pick myself as winning.

“I had to work this morning so it was a bit of a mad dash getting ready in an hour.”

Runner-up Finlay Nyholm from Mulwala was enjoying her first Albury Gold Cup as an 18-year-old.

She was breathless when asked about her white and red get-up inspired by a Thurley dress – but not just because of the shock.

“I got a kiss from Luke (McLeod)!,” she said.

“I love Olivia Rogers and all the judges.”

Judge Michael Knox of Skinlogics Albury had great praise for the ‘secret choice’ winner – picked from the crowd – calling Brooke Strahan’s checkered skirt and top set, complemented with red, “very Dolce and Gabbana”.

The Myrtleford woman bought her black and gold belt from an op-shop for just $2 and similarly her red hat was a vintage steal.

There was a similar story behind the Myer Centrepoint Gentleman of the Day’s outfit.

Michael McAlpine of Melbourne is an Albury races regular and teamed an orange Benjamin Barker jacket, blue and white calibre pants and a Jack London waistcoat with a very interesting felt hat from a Fitzroy store.

“I walked into the shop and they’d never had anything like it before, it wasn’t a brand they’d ever had,” he said.

“I went up to the manager and said there’s a Biro marker on it, do you have another one?

“She looked out it, went out back and said  ‘It’s not our hat, someone’s come in here and swapped it with one of our hats, so you can have it’.”

The Millinery category was more popular than previous years with metallic fabrics and colours a strong trend.

The pressure was on with judge Danica Erard, the milliner for many famous faces. 

A striking silver headpiece designed by Erard herself was in fact the runner-up – but picked by the rest of the judging panel.

Jessie Beazley of Geelong won with a red wrap-up around floral headpiece designed by Angie Jackman.

See the Faces at the Races gallery and follow our rolling coverage of the Gold Cup right here