Ensemble, woman's day (dress, stole)

Wool for summer

This ensemble by the English designer Elizabeth Henry comprises a strapless day dress and stole, both of which are made from finely woven, lightweight wool with printed design loosely based on squares in alternating colours of lilac, pale apricot, cerise and apple green. The upper bodice features an additional self 'frill' and it is fully lined with cream silk tulle. The dress proper is straight cut, with fullness created by the addition of finely pleated and draped sashes which are swathed across the waist and hip areas before falling to the hemline from each side hip. The matching stole is self-lined and rectangular.

The ensemble was sent to the New Zealand Wool Board by the International Wool Secretariat to be used in wool promotions. Mary Annette Hay (nee Burgess), who was the Wool Board's Promotions Officer from 1948 to 1956, used garments sent to New Zealand by the IWS in a range of theatrical productions designed by Mary Annette to ‘educate, promote and elevate wool as the greatest of fibres’. This ensemble was featured in The Romance of Wool (1949-50),  The Miracle of Wool (1950).