With another fantastic creation on display at Saturday’s races, her Fashions on the Field victory came as no surprise. This year’s piece took 12 hours to put together. 

“It’s a very laborious process. This headpiece takes takes approximately 12 hours from the time you start, source the right colour – block it and wire it,” she said. 

“Everything about millinery is in the finer details.” 

In addition to being a sonographer at a local hospital and raising her children, she runs a millinery business on the side. 

“I have young children, so whenever I can get to a race meet I love it. I go to large efforts to do something special,” she said. 

“I work at the hospital doing ultrasounds and  I do my business on the days I don’t work.”

Ms Paterson said she’s been doing millinery for around 15 years. Her advice for anyone looking to create their own piece is simple. 

“Always get the outfit first, because if worst comes to worst, you’ve got an outfit to wear and you can always go and grab something last-minute.”

This year’s Speirs Jewellers’ fashions on the field were awarded across a number of categories: 

This year’s judges were Domenic Scarfone, Michelle Merrylees and 2017 lady of the day Teagan Muirhead. 

Emma Wells travelled from Young to participate in this year’s competition. The weekend’s title is her tenth. 

“I’m so excited. There were just so many beautiful ladies there and I feel very privileged to be the winner. I wanted to wear something bright, first week of spring. It’s a nice introduction to the warmer weather,” she said. 

“I was worried it would be a wall of pink, but I think the red breaks it up nicely.”

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