Century’s fashion

Press, 24 June 1981, Page 2

Century’s fashion

Photographs of costumes at the Canterbury Museum, such as this evening dress, might appear in a London survey of twentieth century fashion. The museum had been asked by Frances Kennett, of London, to supply photographs and a list of its costumes, said the curator of the early colonial department, Ms Jennifer Queree.. These photographs may appear in the survey which will be published “some time

next year.” It will be entitled “Collecting Fashion” and will be based on museum costume collections throughout the -world. The museum, with costumes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and 1400 items of clothing dating from 1900, had possibly the largest costume collection in Australia and New Zealand, Ms Queree said. All items were relevant to New Zealand. The older exhibits had been brought here by the

early settlers and later items were typical of what had been worn by New Zealanders. The Canterbury Museum’s collection lost nothing in comparison with those overseas, said Ms Queree. The collection included clothing into the 1970 s and continued to grow. The museum had accepted costumes since 1910 and serious collection began in 1948, she said.