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Te Ao Hou, December 1967, Page 62

Thomas Kendall wrote home asking to be sent three wigs, among other necessities. In the next fifty years there were many changes in the domestic life of the colonists, as conditions in New Zealand altered and as English fashions changed. This book documents the changes that took place; it is illustrated with line drawings, and there are entertaining quotations from early letters and diaries. It is especially interesting to read of the ways in which English fashions in dress were modified in the new environment. On the whole, the men adapted their clothing to the new climate and conditions more quickly than the women; the eight layers of skirts and petticoats that women of fashion wore in the 1850s must have been uncomfortable enough in England, but how much worse in the New Zealand summer! It would be most interesting to have a similarly detailed account of the much more rapid changes that were taking place at this time in the domestic life of the Maori people. In this book there are only a few passing references to Maori life. We are told that in the 1850s and 1860s, when scent and pomades for the hair were popular with barbers' clients, a large part of the most expensive scents and preparations were sold to Maoris. Maoris had always been connoisseurs of perfumes of various kinds; they greatly enjoyed the European perfumes, and took much care in selecting the ones that pleased them most.