Wedding dress (bodice and skirt)

A Wesleyan Wedding

This shot silk gown, which comprises a bodice and skirt with large flounces over the hip, was worn by Miss Elizabeth Marks on the occasion of her wedding in 1887. The Bay of Plenty Times reported on 12 February 1887:

'Miss Elizabeth Marks, eldest daughter of the late Captain Marks, pilot of Tauranga, was married on Monday at Pitt Street Wesleyan Church, to Rev. Mr Pinfold of the Kaiapoi circuit, there was a large assemblage'.

A gown of shot silk

The gown is made from a finely checked shot silk, the threads being a combination of mid-blue, white and blood red. The resulting effect is a shimmering gown that moves between lilac and mushroon. The irridescent nature of the gown is furthered by the application of a row of small buttons down the centre front, which feature tiny inserts of mirrored glass. The bodice, which is boned at the sides and front, and skirt are lined with a mid-brown ticking.

Good work by Mrs Pinfold

The dress was deposited at the museum with a newspaper clipping entitled 'Women in Print' from The Evening Post, 28 April 1921. It reads:

'Good work done by Mrs. Pinfold, of Karori, wife of the Rev. Dr. J. T. Pinfold, on behalf of Belgian Refugees during the war has resulted in her being awared the medal of 'Elizabeth, Queen of Belgium'. Early in the war Mrs. Pinfold, who was then at Kaikorai, Dunedin made an appeal throughout New Zealand for clothing for Belgium refugees in England. This appeal met with a prompt response. Mrs Pinfold controlled the work until it grew to such proportions that it was taken over by the Overseas Club... King Albert of Belgium, through the local Consul, has now acknowledged the services of the originator of the movement by presenting her with a valuable symbol of good work done on behalf of his subjects.'

Mrs Pinfold died in 1927 after being hit by a car in Wellington.