The year was 2004 and Jennifer Hawkins took the stage in Miss Universe's national costume round in a grey ball gown with a subtle screen print of Sydney Harbour across the front.
Fast forward 13 years and Miss Universe Australia Caris Tiivel is fronting up in a dress inspired by the Great Barrier Reef, complete with anemone headpiece.
But, the weird part is, she doesn't even look out of place.
Once an opportunity for delegates to showcase their cultural heritage – and for those without any discernable cultural dress to just put on a frock in the colour of their national flower and sell it with a post-colonial smile – the national costume section of the Miss Universe pageant has turned into a professional grade Easter Bonnet parade.
Last year, Miss Thailand won the section with a wearable tuk tuk.
As pictures of the dresses from this year are released before the competition later this month, it seems landmarks and geographical features are a big trend.
Miss Universe Malaysia will be wearing a dress inspired by Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers (it features models of the towers as shoulder pads).
While Miss Universe Guyana is attending as a "Coconut Queen", based on a 2016 painting by a local artist. She has a frond headpiece, and, dangling either side of her platform heels, a pair of roots.
An honourable mention should go to Finland, which has done the beauty pageant equivalent of keeping your Christmas lights up through January and dressed its delegate as Mrs Claus.
But, surely the real winner here is Austria, which has taken a leaf out of Hawkins' book and sent its delegate in a screen-printed ball gown ... featuring a full-colour image of Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.
The Miss Universe pageant will be held in Kuala Lumpur on January 30.