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Overview
‘Wool lives’
The gown is an example of Parisian designer Pierre Balmain’s opulent style. Its extravagant use of very fine wool (mousseline-de-laine) in the full skirt, which measures 20 yards around the hemline (18.3 metres), reflects his adoption of the ‘New Look’.
‘To me, wool lives,’ the designer is famously quoted as saying, and wool was his preferred fabric.
A little bit of Paris in New Zealand
This gown was sent to the New Zealand Wool Board by the International Wool Secretariat to be used in wool promotions. The IWS worked closely with the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne to promote fashions in wool. In 1951 they produced a book entitled 'Paris Says Wool', in which French designers such as Balmain extolled the values of wool, and advised women on wardrobe 'must haves'.
The gown became a favourite of Mary Annette Hay (née Burgess), the Wool Board's Promotions Officer. Describing the gown as ‘one of the most beautiful frocks ever designed in wool’, she often used it in her shows as the grand finale.
Mary Annette also frequently modelled the gown herself. When Mary-Annette visited the couturier in 1951, reports of her work and productions had already reached Balmain – a photograph of her wearing this gown was pinned up in his studio.