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‘Its in the Bag’ meets ‘Fashion Week’
at The Dowse
The New Zealand Gown of the Year was
the fairytale fashion show that captured the heart of
the nation from 1958 to 1964 - and it’s on show at the
Dowse from 17 December.
Fashion on Wheels takes a look at this
wonderful time in New Zealand history, when a cavalcade
of caravans took high fashion on a whistle stop tour of
cities and provincial towns. Curator of the exhibition,
Dowse Programme develop Claire Regnault says “It was a
bit like a cross between ‘It’s in the Bag’ and ‘Fashion
Week’”.
“The exhibition captures the drama, the
glory and the humour of what can now be seen to be the
foundation of the New Zealand fashion industry.
Claire says that the New Zealand Gown
of the Year was a unique event that could have happened
only in New Zealand. “Fashion enthusiasts literally took
their ball gowns to the people. And the response was extraordinary.”
The glamorous caravan entourage travelled
the length and breadth of the country creating mounting
excitement as the competing ball gowns were judged not
by professionals, but by popular vote. Incredibly 25,000
New Zealanders were involved every year.
In 1963 when the Gown of the Year arrived
in Tauranga for the first time reporter Betty Currough
was moved to declare that this was "an event which
accentuates the change in Tauranga's status from provincial
town to progressive city".
The exhibition has some wonderful stories
to tell. “It was a time of creativity,” says Claire. “And
a time when some very talented people found an imaginative
way of demonstrating that New Zealand had found its own
flair for fashion. It is a show not to be missed.”
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