Influencer shuts down Melbourne Cup with incredible golden scale dress

Exclusive: When international fashion icon Charlene Davies was invited to be Lexus’ special guest at the Melbourne Cup Carnival, she knew she had to go all out.

Davies, known for her inventive and unusual style in both Australia and China, wanted to wear something true to herself for her Cup debut.

“I’m usually perceived in the fashion field as an irregular person. I don’t really go for the traditional dress code,” she said. “My fashion is not usually centred around Cup-day dressing; I’m really a fashion nerd.”

Her insanely intricate golden gown is made from over 1000 hand-cut pieces of resin, created to mimic the effects of a gold mirror.

It weighs a whopping four kilograms and was created in collaboration with Shanghai-based designer Jing.

The designer is an up-and-coming fashion student who Davies met by chance in Shanghai two years ago.

“I saw her on the side of the road assembling a tremendous cake dress,” she explained.

Read more

Melbourne Cup Carnival is upon us – here’s what we’re likely to see in the style stakes

“That drew my attention, so I saved her contact details. When the team approached me for the Cup day, she was the first person who came to my mind.”

Together, the pair went through gowns Jing had already made. One, which was inspired by China’s Terracotta Warriors, caught Davies’ eye.

“It was covered in scaling but it was metal… I like the idea, but I’m not sure if that would work for the cup day. We chatted for a bit, and we decided to use resin.”

She knew she wanted to go for either silver or gold to play into the Lexus’ theme, but she was stuck on which colour to pick until she remembered a mantra that helped her keep afloat when she first moved to Sydney.

“I remember when I first came to Australia; the first few years were quite challenging. I was
a single mum juggling work and study,” Davies said.

“I was seriously stressed out and had a serious anxiety issues. That’s when I came across meditation.

“I remember one session in particular the instructor said ‘imagine taking all the shattered pieces of yourself that goes to other people: your kids, work, your partner, and bring them back to you. Envision them coming back to you as golden light’.”

“That metaphor always stayed in my head… so I said it has to be gold.”

When it was time to find a fascinator for her gown, she didn’t want anything that would take away from the dress.

She confessed it was hard to find one that fit the vibe of the gown.

“The dress is very futuristic and every fascinators on the market was all very feminine, like a feather, lots of floral... ‘I was like nothing goes with it. What am I going to do?’”

“Luckily, I found a something very sculptural and simple.”