20 marieclaire.com.au

f you were asked when was the last time you loved

everything about yourself, chances are you’d be

stumped to come up with an answer. Yet research-

ers can reveal in a flash that you would’ve been

nine years old – because that’s the age a girl’s

self-esteem peaks, according to studies.

As the mother of a nine-year-old daughter,

I completely agree. There’s something joyously bold

and brash about this age. They have all the sass

and swagger of a young Muhammad Ali, and the

shameless belief that they’re the greatest human

beings on the planet.

To see for ourselves if this unabated self-assurance was a

trait shared by girls the world over, we decided to interview nine

nine-year-olds from nine different countries. And while we

adored each and every one of them (see “About A Girl” on page

62), I did have some faves. There’s Solaf, a Syrian refugee in a

Jordan camp, who wants to be “a hairstylist, tailor and doctor’’

when she grows up. Mariam, from Kenya, says the thing

she likes most about herself is “my good figure”, while Babita

from India says she’s “never felt sad” despite her impoverished

upbringing. Little girls rock.

And thankfully, they grow up to be women who rock. Some

examples? Look no further than this month’s Life Story on US

President-hopeful Hillary Clinton (page 263), who will finally

go to the polls this month. Similarly, read about the amazing

women fighting the deadly Zika virus (page 74). It was female

doctors in Brazil who first discovered the link between the birth

defect and the mosquito-carried Zika, and then raised the alarm

to halt its rapid spread. These women, and many others, are

battling to save a generation of Zika babies and putting the

brakes on this global epidemic.

It seems there’s no end to women’s extraordinary achieve-

ments. It was this time last year the nation celebrated Michelle

Payne’s historic win as the first female jockey to nab the

Melbourne Cup. Who knows what the Cup has in store for us

this year, though we certainly have trackside style covered in

our annual bumper racing special. With 20 pages of hats, shoes,

bags and more, a winning race-day look is guaranteed. From

first-class fashion to stories on equally fabulous females, there’s

a little inspiration for everyone in this issue.

I

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facebook.com/marieclaireau | @nickybriger | @nickybriger | marieclaire.com.au | styledbymarieclaire.com.au PHOTOGRAPHED BY PETER BREW-BEVAN; HOLLY BLAKE; GETTY IMAGES. NICKY’S HAIR BY BRAD MULLINS; MAKE-UP BY LIZ JONES

Editor’s note