Title: Looking flash : clothing in Aotearoa New Zealand /
Authors: Labrum, Bronwyn.; McKergow, Fiona, 1964-; Gibson, Stephanie, 1967-
Publisher: Auckland University Press,
Year: 2007
Subjects: Fashion New Zealand History.; Clothing and dress New Zealand History.; New Zealand Social life and customs.
Abstract: "Offering a fresh look at the role of clothes in New Zealand history, Looking Flash examines what we wear and what we have worn - from the shrinking bathing suit to the black singlet - over the past three centuries. The writers show that, despite a reputation for being wary of 'looking flash', New Zealand has not always been a dowdy country. Essays span the clothing of pre-colonial Maori society, marching girls and castaways, and include eighteenth-century heirloom dresses, hand-me-downs, wartime garb and kilts. There are also extraordinary stories about the fate of a Maori cloak and an Otago farmer's remarkable collection of 1970s high-fashion garments."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: 1. Dressing history up : introduction / Bronwyn Labrum -- 2. He whatu ariki, he kura, he waero : chiefly threads, red and white / Patricia Te Arapo Wallace -- 3. Unpicked for the voyage? Heirloom dresses in colonial New Zealand / Rosanne Livingstone and Valerie Carson -- 4. Kilts as costumes : identity, resistance and tradition / Katie Pickles -- 5. Every garment tells a story : exploring public collections / David Butts -- 6. 'What are these, so withered, and so wild in their attire? Castaways' clothing from the Auckland Islands / Jennifer Quérée -- 7. Weaving a journey : the story of a unique cloak / Awhina Tamarapa -- 8. Hand-me-downs and respectability : clothing and the needy / Bronwyn Labrum -- 9. 'Just the thing' : shopping for clothes in Palmerston North / Fiona McKergow -- 10. On the beach : or the 'unbearable scandal' of shrinking swimwear / Caroline Daley -- 11. Dressing for war : glamour and duty in women's lives during the Second World War / Deborah Montgomerie -- 12. Moving in unison, dressing in uniform : stepping out in style with marching teams / Charlotte Macdonald -- 13. Engaging in mischief : the black singlet in New Zealand culture / Stephanie Gibson -- 14. One man's fantasy : the Eden Hore collection of high and exotic fashion garments / Jane Malthus.