Adelaide Crows footballer Rory Sloane with partner Belinda Riverso on the red carpet at Crown 2012 AFL Brownlow Medal.
Peplums, neutral colours and pregnant bellies ruled at the Brownlow Medal count in Melbourne.
There were splashes of colour and occasional displays of flesh but overwhelmingly the look for AFL’s night of nights yesterday was chic, sleek and conservative.
Liam Picken’s partner Annie Nolan was one of the first down the red carpet in a white structured, strapless Daniel Stefani dress she had to be sewn into.
“My stylist Lana Wilkinson had to sticky tape me in and keep the boozies in position,” Ms Nolan said.
In her white gown, she was the first of a large number of women to opt for a neutral colour.
Blacks and whites dominated, whether it was the sleek, long-sleeved white dress that hugged the pregnant curves of Corey Enright’s partner Renee, the soft, lace flowers on Dane Swan’s partner Taylor Wilson’s frock or the chaotic black tutu that sat at the bottom of Brynne Edelsten’s mirror-ball bodice.
Created for her by friend and former dressmaker Xen, Ms Edelsten said she didn’t see the dress until a few hours before the medal count was due to begin.
Her top half was strapped into shattered pieces of perspex mirror which exploded into an all-feather black, tutu-skirt.
“Basically he described it as mirror-ball Barbie meets black swan,” she said.
Ryan Griffen’s partner Jasmine Putra broke the mould, following spring’s fluoro trend in a long-sleeved, plunging neon orange-hued gown by Silvana Tedesco.
Chris Judd waited patiently as his wife, red carpet favourite Rebecca Judd, modelled a white, long-sleeved Toni Maticevski gown, featuring white patent leather detail and a split back.