Dress, child's

item details

NameDress, child's

ProductionJoyce Ann Fashion; manufacturer(s); circa 1950s; United States

Classificationdresses

Materialscotton

Techniquesmachine sewing

DimensionsCentre back: 745mm (length)

Registration NumberGH017187

Credit lineGift of Shelley Venimore (née O'Brien), 2011

Overview

American hand-me-down

This dress is part of an extraordinary collection of 21 children's dresses and home-made dress-ups worn in the 1950s and 60s by the O'Brien children – Shelley, Maureen, and David. The dresses represent popular girls' fashion from this period, and include a range of home-made garments, and garments made in New Zealand and USA.

The collection embodies the story of the three children growing up in Tinui, a rural community near Castlepoint in the Wairarapa, with all the rituals, triumphs, hardships, and joys of a rural life.

The children's Aunty Nancy sent this particular dress, a hand-me-down from Shelley's Cousin Linda, from America. Shelley wore this dress to school and remembers that she liked the collar. It was probably part of an annual Christmas package from Aunty Nancy, who often sent hand-me-downs as well as new dresses and Christmas presents. Aunty Nancy had married an American marine who had been based in Masterton.