Wedding dress

This dress, which comprises a bodice and skirt,was made by Elizabeth Clark for her wedding to William Millar on 25 March 1872, in Melbourne, Australia. The following day, the couple sailed to New Zealand and settled in Dunedin.

The dress is made from sheer white cotton voile. The fabric features a woven stripe pattern and printed pattern of small flower sprigs in green and yellow. Both the bodice and the skirt have been completely sewn by hand. Elizabeth used running stitches for joining seams, backstitches for pleats, bodice seams and inplaces where more strength was required, and overcast stitches for finishing seam allowances.

The unlined skirt is constructed from five gores. The fullness in the skirt is gathered into cartridge pleats around the waist, which measures 640 mm when fastened. There is a pocket set into proper left side seam. Yellow braided wool tape has been sewn over the edge of hem, and the sleeves of the bodice feature narrow bands of bobbin lace at each cuff.