Miss Australia's national costume for the Miss Universe pageant. Photo: ArthurAve.com

Well, at the very least poor Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell shouldn't pose too much of a threat, as her costume for Miss Universe has been branded a "travesty" and "national joke" by the Australian media, the Telegraph reports.

Not that we blame them. The recently crowned Campbell will be hitting next month's pageant in -- cringe -- high-heeled Uggs, a sheepskin rug shrug, a racy cut-out one-piece swimsuit that's been hand-painted by an Aboriginal artist, and a garish, multicolored flamenco-style skirt, according to the paper.

What, could they not slap together a Vegemite-encrusted bra or borrow Crocodile Dundee's hat?

Not surprisingly, Melbourne's Herald Sun has deemed the Natasha Dwyer creation a "national joke" while Australian Grazia calls it a "travesty."

"She's bang on trend with the shrug, and boots shearling is very hot right now but the skirt looks like it was made for a flamenco dancer from discount fabric bin scraps," Clare Maclean, a fashion editor for Australian Grazia, told the Telegraph.

Try telling that to the 18-year-old Campbell, who will wear the getup in the pageant's national costume portion, which last year saw Miss Japan getting in hot water for her sexy ensemble.

"Part of our Australian identity is our indigenous heritage and it was so important that it was included in the national costume," Campbell tells the paper.

"An Aboriginal artist hand-painted my swimsuit, which is the base of the outfit, which is very special.

"I have a little sheepskin shrug, which I think is very Australian -– very Outback."

So is a dingo and a porterhouse steak, but we don't think we'd be caught dead wearing that in public. Or private, for that matter.

In other Australian style news, the rosary jewelry trend is stirring a controversy Down Under.