Backless Brownlow dress gains instant popularity

THE backless Brownlow dress that left many breathless is taking the country by storm.  This week, fashion lovers were clamber- ing to get their manicured hands on the barely-there gown worn by Bree Hately, girlfriend of Essendon player Adam McPhee, at this year's medal count.  The outfit was created by WA designer Ruth Tarvydas, who also made the now-famous red dress worn by Rebecca Twigley to the 2004 Brownlow.

Tarvydas is in Rome, but her East Perth office has been flooded with calls from around Australia about the sexy dress.  The designer's assistant, Alice Kwan, said the dress was from Tarvydas's new collection and would begin arriving in stores this week.  In black, pewter, white and teal, it will sell for $956. Hately was a last-minute addition to a list of 12 players' girlfriends and wives dressed by Tarvydas for the event.  McPhee is "amazed'' by his partner's dress. "I like how it shows off her back,'' he said.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper ran her photograph on Page 3 with a headline "Just how low can Brownlow medal go''. Tarvydas's medal gowns range from sparkling silver and gold sequins, to slinky bronze and midnight black. "We had a bit of everything on the red carpet,'' Kwan says. "But the metallics did very well.''

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