item details
NameWedding dress
ProductionUnknown; maker/artist; 1916; New Zealand
Classificationdresses, wedding dresses
Materialscotton
DimensionsWaist circumference: 600mm (width), 1300mm (length)
Registration NumberGH014373
Credit lineGift of Mrs Ellen Morris, 2003
Overview
'Daintily attired'
Twenty-year-old Sophia Hickey (1895-1964) wore this dress at her wedding to 26-year-old Australian-born James Dempsey in March 1916. The pair married at St David's Presbyterian church in Petone. A newspaper report described the bride as 'daintily attired' and the wedding itself as 'very pretty'.
Sophia's sister or a local dressmaker in Petone sewed the dress for her. It is made from heavily embroidered fine white cotton voile featuring a flower and leaf pattern. The fabric was purchased from C. Smiths, Cuba Street, Wellington. The dress is completed by a ruched silk cummerbund, fastened at the front with a fabric covered buckle.
In 1980, the dress was worn as part of a Bride of the Year fashion parade in the Hutt Valley.