Risque business: Is Miss Australia's gown too revealing?

"Curvaceous beauty" ... Scherri-Lee Biggs models the Miss Universe Australia official evening gown. Photo: Kevin Tran

There were sequins, there were hair extensions and there was pancake makeup and that was just the guests. The official Miss Universe Australia 2011 national costume launch at lunchtime yesterday was an unofficial beauty pageant and impromptu runway for everyone in attendance - though not even the slimmest, blondest, brownest local celeb in the teeniest tightest frock could come close to the spectacle that was beauty queen Scherri-Lee Biggs.
Miss Biggs, 20, a sweet-smiling, honey-blonde from Perth, was there to showcase to a select crowd the wardrobe she will be taking to the Miss Universe final in Sao Paulo in September. Local models helped her out with the Everyday Wear - mostly ho-hum numbers from Wish and Bardot (flowered jumpsuit anyone?). Any one of the girls could have been rival entrants in Donald Trump's intergalatic beauty quest - they were long of hair, high of breast and plump of lip to a tee. But then the real deal came out in the official Evening Wear gown. The gown is in on-trend nude, designed by Sylvia Lee of Sydney to ''show Miss Universe Australia's curvaceous beauty'', according to the MC. It also showed her bum. You could see straight through the lace to the leotard beneath. That must have been the decadence bit mentioned in the invitation along with Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, canapes and champagne.
It was good prep for the main event, the unveiling of the Australian National Costume - the costume that will soon be seen by 3 billion people (Miss Universe is apparently the second most watched TV event after the World Cup). The name of the designer gave a bit of a clue to what humanity is in for. Kooey Swimwear has produced a national bikini (canary yellow) with a long, multi-coloured train.

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Aussie style? ... Scherri-Lee Biggs showcases the Australian National Costume. Photo: Kevin Tran

The MC explained there was a lot of thought and symbolism behind the choice in design. ''It is a literal translation of Australian colours, from coast to centre,'' he said. The yellow represented Australia's beautiful beaches and, in the skirt, the blue represented the magnificent sea, the reds the breathtaking desert, etc. ''The gold headband and buckle represent Australia's minerals,'' he said. ''Like gold.''
Of course finding a national costume is never going to be easy for Australian beauty queens. Kimonoes and lederhosen are not available as they are in some other countries and so our Miss Universes have been put into high-heeled ugg boots (2010), Oprah house colour (2009), frills (2008) and a surf life saving outfit (2007). Miss Universe is another universe. Mum didn't think it was very nice that you could see her bottom through the evening gown but as Laura Anderson, chairman of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, said in the lift afterwards, they're not things anyone would wear in normal life but they are right for what they're meant for - the stage setting of a beauty pageant. They're costumes.
Beauty pageants are fantastical but does this make them irrelevant? Is there still a place for beauty queens, and their associated outfits, hair and makeup, even if it just to provide easy entertainment? How do you feel about the Miss Universe competition and similar beauty quests? Did you feel differently in 2004 when Jennifer Hawkins won it for Australia?


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