CLOVER Lee-Steere uses the word "inappropriate" a lot more than you would expect from a 21-year-old.

"Too much chest exposure, too much leg exposure, especially both together — very inappropriate," she says, ticking off the worst crimes of racewear fashion that are common, but not exclusive, to her age group.

At yesterday's Caulfield Thousand Guineas trackside lunch, Lee-Steere proved she takes her role as the youngest of Caulfield's four style ambassadors seriously.

"I'm trying to represent a look for my age that's different to the 'club' look," she said of the skimpy fashions, more suitable for a nightclub, favoured by young women.

Her own outfit, a raglan-sleeved Scanlan & Theodore dress cut high at the front but eye-catchingly low at the back, was a good balance of fashion and modesty, she said. "If it were low at the front too, that wouldn't be good."

Against a fashion show backdrop of Perri Cutten racewear, including elegant knee dresses clenched into the waist, waved 1960s picture hats, flapper headbands and flighty little cocktail hats set into sleek French chignons, Lee-Steere pitched an idea that young people might even like introducing classic racewear rules into their wardrobe.

"You don't have to not be fashionable," she says. "But I like that idea of going into the past, matching your outfit, always having some sort of headwear, having a jacket or something in case it gets cold, and not exposing too much."

Like Lee-Steere, Melbourne fashion designer Teresa Liano says racewear's immediate future will be less raunchy, but more exotic than in recent years.

"Everybody's wanting glamour — something with a bit of lustre in the fabric, a bit of shine."

She predicted Saturday's Caulfield Cup meeting — for many, the start of the spring racing carnival — would be an excuse for people to cheer themselves up in fearful economic times. "People want a reason to dress up, look beautiful and stylish. It makes them feel good. It's like an antidepressant."

General admission tickets for Saturday's BMW Caulfield Cup day are $53. Book at ticketek.com or 132 849.
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