PhenQ Reviews

From a tiny brooch pinned to her lapel to designer handbags, these are the finer details of Lisa Wilkinson’s daily fashion show during the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial.

A star witness and principal target of the proceedings over media reports surrounding Brittany Higgins’ claim she was raped by Mr Lehrmann, Wilkinson oozed power and confidence as she arrived at court each day in head-turning power suits.

But her expensive designer handbags largely escaped attention – including the $4,500 Loewe piece she carried into court on at least nine occasions.

And then there is a nod to what would be one of her proudest achievements – the Order of Australia badge pinned to her lapel, awarded to the former star of the Today show and The Project in 2016.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Wilkinson and Network Ten over her 2021 interview with Ms Higgins on The Project about the ex-Liberal Party staffer’s claim she was raped inside Parliament House in 2019. 

Mr Lehrmann – who has always denied the claim – was not named on The Project, but insists friends and ex-colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. 

Wilkinson has turned up to court every day since the defamation trial started on November 22, with a body language expert revealing she appeared determined before taking to the witness box on Thursday.

Lisa Wilkinson showed she hadn’t lost her TV-star style in a parade of pantsuits

Psychosomatic body language expert Gillian Maddigan told Daily Mail Australia that Wilkinson’s facial features indicated ‘she may do quite well until she’s pressured’. 

‘She has tenacity, they would have to drive her into a corner,’ she said.

‘She’s got a really broad face. The whole time she’s been there [at the hearing] she has been taking in information and watching very closely. 

‘She can come across as two different people, soft and sensitive, but really determined and strong, but she doesn’t like being bullied.

‘She could get really angry, but she’s done a lot of preparation for her appearance.’ 

The defamation trial before Justice Michael Lee has seen some explosive moments, with Mr Lehrmann testifying over five days and challenged about differing accounts of why he and Ms Higgins went to Parliament House after a night out in Canberra bars.

Brittany Higgins was also cross-examined with several inconsistencies in her story exposed and her full $2.4 million Commonwealth compensation figure revealed.

But for many observers, Wilkinson, and her parade of pantsuits and luxury accessories, was the star of the show, with the court’s Iivestream on YouTube peaking when the star was in the box at about 19,500 viewers.

Wilkinson’s personal barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC was always alongside her –  shod in smart pairs of upmarket shoes by the Italian designer label Ferragamo – with the media-savvy pair smiling and looking upbeat as they mounted the steps at Queen’s Square.

Wilkinson (above in hot pink Alex Perry on day 11 of the trial, with her barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC in blue Ferragamo Vara bow pumps) carried her $4,500 Loewe handbag into court on five of the 13 days so far she has appeared

Wilkinson, her Member of the Order of Australia pin on her left lapel, laughs with her barrister  outside the Federal Court in Sydney on the seventh sitting day of the trial

Wilkinson (above in a neutral-toned pantsuit and carrying a Prada designer Saffiano tote bag) appears on day eight of the defamation trial  

The TV star carried Loewe’s $4,495 basket bag to court five days, toting the Prada Saffiano soft grey leather bag to court on the eight day of hearings 

Wilkinson began her suit marathon on day one of the trial, wearing a baby pink pantsuit with split flared trousers.

She paired that with a white shirt and donned her Member of the Order of Australia pin on the lapel of her double breasted jacket.

The TV star became Lisa Wilkinson AM in 2016 for significant services to print and broadcast media, and youth and women’s health groups. 

She carried a $4,495 plaited brown leather Loewe ‘basket bag’ and wore nude patent leather stilettos. 

By the 17th day of Wilkinson turning up at the Federal Court, she had worn 17 different suits or jackets paired with trousers. 

She showed a preference for pink or pale neutral, with four different suits in each shade, and 11 white or cream shirts, and for double-breasted jackets which suit her small frame.  

On day two, she wore a navy suit with a green self-tie shirt and black stilettos, the following day choosing an apple green Zara suit with matching shirt

On day four, she wore a dusty pink suit with a black Colonel Sanders dress tie.

Thereafter, Wilkinson chose a black suit with a teal shirt, PhenQ Reviews then a white suit with a black shirt, and next an oversized dark bottle green suit with her AM pin, and a cream silk pussy-bow shirt. 

Not to be outdone in the fashion stakes, Brittany Higgins was accompanied to court each day by her loyal friend Emma Webster (left), who dressed in a series of head-to-toe primary-coloured pantsuits with matching shirts and ties 

She ended week two of the trial with a flattering neutral-toned beige suit – possibly from the UK-based global brand Reiss, which dressed her when she worked for Channel Ten – and carried a Prada Saffiano tote bag. 

Last week, Wilkinson started the third week of proceedings on Tuesday with a white shirt and trousers topped by a black blazer with gold buttons.

The following day, she wore a dusty blue pantsuit, with the AM pin back on her lapel, a white shirt and bolo necktie.

The next day, she chose a hot pink double-breasted Alex Perry suit while Ms Chrysanthou wore blue Ferragamo pumps, and last Friday Lisa was in a cream suit and a salmon pink shirt with a self-tie neck, carrying the Loewe designer bag for the fifth time into court.

Wilkinson on day one of the trial (left) in a pale pink suit with split-leg trousers and on Day 14 (right) in an Alex Perry mid-pink outfit worth about $2,000. Her barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC (also pictured) wore Ferragamo shoes on both occasions, as she did most days

Wilkinson (above) on the first day of her testimony in her 16th power suit in a row, this one in pastel orange, and Ms Chrysanthou again in Ferragamo shoes, this time black Viva bow pumps 

Smiling on the final day of her client’s testimony, barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC arrives in a pair of navy Ferragamo Varina flats

On December 12, as her former The Project colleague, TV producer Angus Llewellyn, spent a tense time being questioned in the witness box, she turned up in her fourth, different pink suit of the trial to date.  

On Tuesday, Wilkinson wore her 14th power suit in a row – a mid-pink Alex Perry outfit worth about $2000 – and Ms Chrysanthou again favoured Ferragamo, this time  scalloped Vara court shoes in bone. 

Wilkinson wore the same clear perspex high-heeled sandals to court for most appearances from day four onwards, feeling relaxed enough inside Court 22A to kick off the shoes and give her feet a rest as she watched the proceedings.  

On Wednesday, it was another Alex Perry suit, this time in pale blue, and on Thursday when she gave a day’s fiery testimony in the witness box, Wilkinson was in a pastel orange suit. 

She ended her appearances on Friday, December 15, with a blue linen double-breasted jacket over a pair of white trousers, with Ms Chrysanthou in navy Ferragamo Varina flats.   

Not to be outdone in the fashion stakes, Brittany Higgins was accompanied to court each day by her loyal friend Emma Webster, who dressed in a series of head-to-toe primary coloured pantsuits with matching shirts and ties.

The trial before Justice Lee is set to continue into the final week before the Christmas break.  

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