This week’s ‘wedding dress of the week’ is an homage to classicism. Designed by Ian & Marcel this dress and coat is one of the most subtle yet rewarding ensembles included in Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion from the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Ian & Marcel was founded in 1979 by twoRead more
This week’s wedding dress is a recent acquisition – one which caused much excitment amongst Te Papa’s History team when it arrived. Wholly romantic in design, this dress is made from a Second World War silk parachute. It was made for Carol Gifford by members of her family, for her marriage toRead more
Wedding dress by Charles James for Baba Beaton, 1934 The Parisian fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet (1876 – 1975) is credited with having invented the bias cut. She commented: ‘Maybe because everyone else made dresses that flowed in the same direction, I saw that if I turned the fabric on an angle… it gained elasticity’.Read more
A Christmas Wedding This silk chiffon and satin dress was worn by Lucy Eleanor (Lulu) Cracroft of Hataitai when she wed James Meade Ferguson at St Mark’s Church in Wellington just after Christmas on 29 December, 1914. While the dress is machine sewn, it features a significant amount of hand detailing and finishing,Read more
Perhaps a little unwisely, I have decided to commit to a weekly blog post in conjunction with our current exhibition Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Dress from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Wedding Gown of the Week will include gowns from the Unveiled and Te Papa’s own collection – the exhibition has spurredRead more
Thirty-nine years ago, the last New Zealand forces withdraw from Vietnam (22 December 1972) New Zealand combat troops were in Vietnam from 1965 until 1972. This military support was underpinned by New Zealand’s defence obligations to the USA, an ANZUS treaty partner from 1951. Fewer than 4000 New Zealanders were in Vietnam over thisRead more
Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London was officially opened this morning with a special wedding breakfast for 300 guests. Perhaps surprisingly for an exhibition from wintery London, guests were adorned with lei and fresh ‘ei (flower garland) on arrival and were drawn upstairsRead more
Carmen Rupe (1936-2011), a New Zealand transgendered entrepreneur, entertainer, and role model, passed away in Sydney this morning. Carmen was a pioneer of greater sexual tolerance, who came to prominence through the entertainment and nightlife options she provided for Wellingtonians during the 1970s. Taumaranui-born, as Trevor, Carmen graced Auckland, Wellington, and Sydney with herRead more
On Monday, the Unveiled installation team unpacked what must be considered one of the exhibition’s most glamorous gowns – a glorious number designed by Norman Hartnell for Margaret Whigham, a British society beauty who married Charles Sweeney, a movie-star handsome American, in 1933. While one of the most glamorous, it is also the most tricky toRead more
This week it has been full steam ahead in the VISA Platinum Gallery. The crates carrying Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London arrived by sea, and Keira Miller and Sarah Scott from the V&A arrived by air. Over the last week Keira and Sarah,Read more
Seventy-two years ago, the Centennial Exhibition opens in Wellington (9 November 1939) The 1940 Centennial exhibition was one of the many ways in which New Zealanders marked 100 years of British government. The exhibition, which was located in Rongotai, attracted over 2.6 million visitors over a period of six months. Below is a colourisedRead more
Carefully packed into custom-made crates, the exhibition Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Fashion from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, has departed Melbourne for Wellington by sea. In the meantime, it’s been all go in Te Papa’s Textile Store with the arrival of our New Zealand commissions – or at least two of them.Read more
The young Queen avidly recorded details of her wedding to her ‘precious Angel’ in her journal, including descriptions of her wedding attire and her whirling emotions. On the evening of her wedding she confided: ‘My dearest dearest dear Albert… his excessive love and affection gave me feelings of heavenly love and happiness, I neverRead more
If you are giving a mo a go for the first time during Movember, then here’s something you may not have considered before: how do you avoid getting a droopy, wet moustache while having a cuppa? In the late 1800s, magnificently moustachioed men (like Captain Watt above) dodged this dilemna by drinking from speciallyRead more
Museum curators often need to identify handwriting. In the Bird department this includes determining who wrote historical register entries and specimen labels, or who was responsible for annotations on original documents. Much of this skill is learnt on the job, and we keep a file of examples of writing byRead more
