IT TAKES a bold woman to wear red, but the dress code wasn’t optional at the biggest Red Hat Society’s Girlfriend’s Giggle.

Organiser of the almost-week-long 10th anniversary convention, and Sunshine Coast Red ‘n’ Purple Ragers chapter Queen Mum, Julie Walker, told the more than 500 members they would not get in if they did not don the colours.

“I told them, Caloundra and the Sunshine Coast, expect to see a sea of red and purple so you’d better not disappoint them,” Ms Walker said.

The colours go to the core of the club for women over 50, inspired by words from a poem by Jenny Joseph reading “when I am old, I shall wear purple with a red hat, which doesn’t match...”.

Ms Walker said Red Hatters thought the colours matched well, but more than that, they helped push ladies out of their comfort zone.

“Through Red Hatting they just blossom out, because they might have been sitting at home, some caring for sick husbands, others are widows,” she said.

“They enjoy each other’s company and have a laugh.”

But when Red Hatters get together en masse, a lot more than laughter goes on.

Women from 89 chapters across Australia and New Zealand have congregated in Caloundra for the biggest gathering of Red Hatters for the annual Girlfriend’s Giggle.

“A lot of people were coming early ... and made a holiday of it and a lot of them aren’t going home until Tuesday or Wednesday,” Ms Walker said.

“So we set up VIP viewings from 5-7pm at boutiques in town; they went to those shops and had wine and cheese and bought clothes,” she said.

When they weren’t hatting up for high tea, the hatters filled their days with shopping trips, buffet seafood cruises and hinterland adventures.

The convention officially opened with a dinner on Friday but the feather in the cap of the whole event was last night’s Gatsby-themed gala ball at the Events Centre, Caloundra.