Attendees spend hours, and often hundreds or thousands of dollars, perfecting their outfits.

But one of last year’s winners said this does not have to be the case.

Esther Shephard and her partner Travis Bridle won the Most Stylish Couple category.

Mr Bridle brought his chequered suit and Miss Shephard thought she would have trouble matching it.

But her mother made an outfit that matched the colours and the autumn racing theme.

“We made it work with lots of little tweaking,” she said.

“Make sure you complement each other and not outshine each other.”

Miss Shephard believes this season’s trends for the ladies favour leather, felt, fur and feathers as the best material in plum, navy, cream and mustard.

“In Wagga, we don’t get many opportunities to dress up and the races definitely offer that,” she said.