The circus is back in town: Stunts nearly outnumber style at Derby Day

A hat that needed its own transport, a jacket that weighed as much as a sack of potatoes, and more ostrich feathers than the set of Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday, this was a Derby Day that was high on theatrics as the beautiful people of the Birdcage plumed their way back to photographic prominence after a two-year hiatus.

Despite a hot rumour that Thor himself, the actor Chris Hemsworth, might make an appearance, it turned out to be one of the many Birdcage urban legends of the day. Still, representing the Hemsworth clan at the Lexus marquee was Chris’ wife, actress and beauty entrepreneur Elsa Pataky, who was decked in a strapless Dior dress that flowed into a sheer skirt and Bulgari jewels.

Spanish-born Pataky said she worked with Dior to make the look race-day appropriate. “It normally has high briefs [underneath] so I had to put something else under it. I saw the Dior hat, and it just came out, and it’s very Spanish. It really transformed the outfit. It gave it Spanish vibes and wanted to pay tribute to my home country.”

Speaking of jewels, model Nicole Trunfio arrived with her own security detail responsible for ensuring no one came too close to the hundreds of thousands of diamonds, by Anton Jewellery and Cerrone, around her neck and on her gloved finger.

Trunfio’s look, the first of five planned across the week, was the “most classic” of the lot, which will reach a crescendo on Thursday, when she is scheduled to appear in a piece once owned by none other than Hollywood icon the late Elizabeth Taylor.

Though it was Joan Collins, during the Dynasty years, who Trunfio most channelled on the day with her all-black look, which included a strapless dress by Sportmax and millinery by Ann Shoebridge.

“The races is the one place you can truly become a character … and a hat really adds an element of drama to every outfit,” she said.

There was zero drama between model sisters Ashley and Jess Hart, who said they fought over socks and T-shirts when they were young. “I used to wait up until 3am to see if it was my T-shirt she borrowed,” Ashley said of her older sibling.