A week before the history-making April race meeting in Birdsville, Katie Spencer was at home in Canada and had never been to horse races before, let alone in Australia's outback, and she'd never entered a Fashions on the Field contest.
When she flew into Sydney and her boyfriend, Gunnedah's Mark Tindall told her they were going to the Birdsville Races, she cruised social media pages to find out what it was all about.
"That's where I heard about the fashions - I thought it would be a real novelty to experience," she said.
Katie found her colourful orange fascinator in Wollongong first, then the matching shoes and bag, and finally the classic black and white contrasting outfit.
What made her win even more surreal was the preparation - a shower in a bucket first, then applying her makeup on the front seat of the Landcruiser.
"I'd never done anything like that before," she said.
Hers was one of many tales of the trouble ladies went to, to present their best to the judges on the day - many a precious hat had to be saved from being squashed by the esky, and one woman resorted to ironing her linen dress with a hot saucepan.
Brisbane woman Tracy Slingsby was nearly without any outfit to wear - she had carefully hung her dresses in the motel cupboard at Windorah where she stopped the night before Birdsville, only to discover when they had to change a flat tyre at Deon's Lookout, that she'd left them behind.
A frantic call by satellite phone from Betoota to Windorah publican Ian Simpson assured her the outfits had been found and were on their way with a trusted traveller.
Tracy was reunited with her dresses a few hours later, and looked a million dollars trackside.
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