Cocktail dress

'The confident poise given by a pretty dress'

Alison Nicholls made this cocktail dress from a 'Vogue Couturier Design' pattern (number 100), in a fabric similar to that shown on the pattern's cover. The pattern was designed by Ronald Paterson, a Scot who operated his own couture house from 1947 to 1968, and regularly produced patterns for Vogue.

Alison purchased both the pattern and fabric from Thomson’s Silk Shop. Nicholls loved the English-made fabric. She was told that the design was inspired by roses in the garden of Cecil Beaton, a famous society portrait photographer. She made the dress on her Singer sewing machine, a 21st birthday present. It was the first portable and reversible stitch Singer Sewing machine in New Zealand, and was imported by her father, who was a tailor.