'I made a living out of rating WAGs' outfits. Here's what I know now that I didn't then.'

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Last night, the wives and girlfriends of some of the NRL's most talented players took to the red carpet at the Dally M awards in Sydney.

Like the Brownlow Medal — which took place last week in Melbourne, for the AFL's best and fairest awards — the fashion choices of the player's partners are today being scrutinised by fashion and couch-critics alike. And often, unfairly so.

I know. I stood alongside the red carpet for at least ten Brownlow Medal counts during my time as a fashion reporter and editor.

Watch: Check out some of the looks from this year's Brownlow Medal red carpet. Post continues below.

On many of those occasions, I was asked to rate the fashion choices of the women out of 10. I'm not proud to say I obliged. In fact, I am deeply ashamed to say I obliged.

Not only did I assign women to either a "hit" or a "miss" list, I even recall, on one occasion, rating a particular woman's outfit a mere 3 out of 10.

I am deeply sorry.

If asked today to rate the outfits of the partners of Australia's best NRL or AFL players — or any woman on the red carpet for that matter — my response would be a firm no, even if it meant ranking my editors and bosses. Why? Because I'm older and wiser and know just how damaging it can be.

And because no woman, or man, should ever be judged or rated, particularly in a public forum, for the way they look.

When we rate women on the red carpet, we're not just commenting on style, we're reinforcing a culture that tells women their value lies in how they look, not in who they are or what they've achieved.

Rating women based on appearance is not a celebration of fashion, it's a form of public scrutiny that reduces an individual to a number and a snarky caption. It's demeaning and it's damaging, not just to the women being critiqued, but to every woman watching on.

Young girls absorb these messages early. They learn that beauty is currency, that approval is earned through conformity and that deviation invites ridicule. This isn't just about the women walking the red carpet, but the ripple effect it has on every young woman or girl looking on.

I'm not the first person to call for less judgement and more kindness on the red carpet. In 2016, the partners of two AFL players campaigned for a #bullyfreebrownlow and, in the same year, Mamamia vowed to cover the Brownlows without judgement and strictly no worst-dressed lists.

Here's to women being braver than I ever was and saying no to scorecards, rating women on their appearance and disparaging fashion commentary.

However, last week I was gobsmacked to see some media outlets still publishing worst-dressed lists as part of their Brownlow Medal coverage. Surely, we are well passed this antiquated and damaging practice.

Yes, there might still be young reporters, like I once was, too afraid to stand up to their editors when asked to compile a worst-dressed or hit-and-miss list. In that case, editors, do better, and don't ask this of your reporters in the first place.

By all means, name and celebrate the red carpet's best dressed, but let's ditch the worst-dressed lists, the scorecards and the public scrutiny of women's appearances once and for all.

Listen: On this week's episode, Bespoke Style Enhancer Grace Lam runs us through her new brand crushes, her thrifting tips and tricks, and find out how a simple sock upgrade can transform your entire look. Post continues below.

Red carpet fashion should be fun, a chance to dress up, a form of personal storytelling, and self-expression, not a battleground for humiliation.

I am deeply sorry I did not recognise this sooner.

*Rachel Wells is a freelance journalist, a former fashion reporter and fashion editor at The Age and The Sunday Age, who has also covered consumer affairs, property and breaking news.

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