If you hadn't been watching actress Rebel Wilson's sensational defamation hearing against a magazine publisher last week there are a few things you wouldn't know.
Such as learning that Disneyland has a secret and exclusive club for celebrities that costs $15,000 a year to join.
In the opening days of the three-week trial against Bauer media, publisher of several weekly tabloids including Woman's Day, the usually dour Supreme Court of Victoria also heard debate over the definition of "bogan" suburbs and whether an Instagram filter is capable of disguising eczema.
All the while, Wilson, who is arguing she lost work opportunities after the May 2015 articles accused her of lying about her age, among other things, has been putting on a show for the media on her walks to and from the courtroom each day.
Consider the koala purse Wilson has carried to court each day. It communicates in every photo opportunity, that she's Australian - handy when your trial is covered in international entertainment news.
On Mondays, we wear pink. Rebel Wilson set a conservative tone from the start of her defamation trial. Photo: Quinn Rooney
Wearing a camera-ready combination of leather skirt and jacket, or knit and skirt, Wilson has dressed like the picture of responsibility, credibility and business, with a side order of Don't Mess With Me. Some have even likened her pink jacket, worn on Monday, to medieval body armour for a celebrity ready to fight for her reputation.
Crowd favourite ... experts have praised Wilson's dress-over-shirt outfit from Tuesday. Photo: AAP
Kathy Buchanan, a career journalist and author of Charm School: The Modern Girl's Complete Handbook of Etiquette, has no doubt Wilson has put careful thought into her court outfits. After all, she's playing the role of a lifetime- her own lifetime, which is being recounted in detail before the bench.
"In terms of image she is absolutely doing the right thing. She may come up against a judge who hasn't seen Bridesmaids, so it's the smart thing to do. A judge takes you for who you are in front of them not your image or what movies you have been in."
Stylist Lana Wilkinson, who dresses celebrities for events ranging from charity lunches to the Brownlow, agreed Wilson was "looking like a boss".
If the jacket fits ... Rebel Wilson pictured on Friday wearing a black version of the pink jacket she wore on Monday. Photo: Penny Stephens
Her favourite outfit was Wilson's black dress over shirt that she wore on Tuesday, day two of the trial.
"She's showing who she is without having to speak. [She's saying] 'don't mess with me.'"
Wilkinson said the Monday pink jacket was a "bit demure" but by day two, her corseted dress over shirt look "was like a boss and [saying] I'm going to bury you".
By Friday, for the final hearing of the day when Wilson was cross-examined, her look was much darker - a black version of the armoured pink cardigan, black pants and high heels. It's the sort of sober outfit she might have worn if she'd followed a more traditional career path after she earned her law degree from UNSW eight years ago.
Instead, she's playing herself in a real-life court drama. While her clothes have no bearing on the case, she knows that appearances count in the court of public opinion.
Rebel Wilson's koala purse has been a fashion fixture during her trial in Melbourne. Photo: Mal Fairclough
