The Museum of Clothing in Maitland, New South Wales | Museum

The Museum of Clothing

Locality: Maitland, New South Wales

Address: Brough House, 73 Church Street 2320 Maitland, NSW, Australia

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22.01.2022 #Repost @swinfieldartist with @make_repost More from todays visit to the @museumofclothing. It's all about the detail. Where do we go from here? Silkscreen, solar plate... or photo lithography? ... So very suggestive and evocative. Even a pregnancy mourning dress. So many layers and potential tangents. #victorianhistory #socialhistory #colonialhistory #lace #details #womenshistory #clothinghistory #huntervalleyhistory #researchhistory

20.01.2022 Donation from the family of Ken Berthold who was a tailor in Maitland for many years. Ken was apprenticed to Charlie Cohen who had a tailor shop in Maitland at the age of 14yrs where he worked until he joined the army at age 19yrs. Ken turned up to work on the first day wearing a flannel shirt and trousers which was considered bad for business so Charlie sold him a ready made suit and charged him for it giving no discount. He was paid 1 shilling a week until the debt was pai...d which took 6-8weeks. Charlie Cohen also had a shop in Sydney next to the Trocadero Night Club. Each week Ken would take the money he made during the week to Charlie in Sydney directly. He would stay at Charlie’s above the shop and go to the dances at the Trocadero and then catch the train back to Maitland to start work on Monday. Charlie considered himself a good dancer which of course gave him the pick of the girls who attended the dance. When Ken returned from the war he opened up The Ace Tailor Shop in High Street Maitland. He also had shops in East Maitland and Singleton. Ken Berthold closed his shop at 304 High Street Maitland in 1978. #mymaitland #tailormade #maitlandhighstreet #vintage #maitlandbusiness See more

20.01.2022 Do you have an interest in handbags, shoes, hats, jewellery and all things to accessorise from days gone by? If so would you like to join our band of volunteers and share your knowledge. It would involve re-cataloguing items that we have and accessioning anything new that arrives into our collection. Researching, restoring and storing correctly those items. We meet on a Wednesday at Largs in NSW or if you can’t make that day other days may be negotiable. If interested please message us we would love to have you on board. #mymaitland

20.01.2022 1930s 'make-do-and-mend' dress The Gertrude Mary Vile Depression-era dress is a cream Fuji silk dress, featuring an Eton collar with two rows of hemstitching, short sleeves with turn back cuffs edged with two rows of hemstitching, a patch pocket with a turn down flap edged with two rows of hemstitching, a plain bodice with five buttons down front and a gored skirt. The dress is in a poor condition patched and frayed. Buttons have been replaced in varying shades of fawn and c...ream and some of the replacements are broken. The garment is heavily patched in the underarm area with self-material. It was originally from the 1920s and patched to take it into the 1930s. Gertrude ‘Gert’ Mary Vile was born in March 1878 at Gosforth, a rural community about fourteen kilometres from Maitland. Gertrude’s father, Robert Vile married Margaret Mahoney from across the Hunter River and he and his children, George, Gertrude and Ann all worked the property, each doing a share of milking and fruit picking. After Robert’s death the land was divided between the three children. The girls never married, and when George married Vera Vile he built an adjoining house. Gertrude patched and darned what was initially a best dress into a house dress. As the depression deepened it became necessary to mend and make do; this dress’ life was prolonged through patching and darning. It became a housedress, and was eventually rescued from the ragbag. It is both representative and also rare, in that make do and mend items of clothing do not often survive the ravages of time and are seldom found in museums. Gertrude died in March 1967 aged eighty-nine. The dress is another one our garments that is recorded on the Australian Dress Register ID 586 #mymaitland #vintagefashion #museum #australiandress

20.01.2022 This 19th Century Infants Day Dress has no sleeves, a gathered neck collar trimmed with lace and is fastened at the back of the neck by one button, then open all the way down to the hem. It is handmade and has french seams. It is in excellent condition and is 1 of 3 donated. The dress belonged to the family of Mollie Eichholzer who was a long time resident of Maitland and was the sister of Ken Tubman. Mollie was educated at Maitland Girl’s High School and returned as a teach...er in her adult life. She retired from teaching in 1975 and was thrilled when the school library was named after her in 1976. Mollie was also the President of Benhome where she was honoured by the staff calling a wing of a building after her. She loved textiles and quality clothing and was a good sewer and knitter. Mollie also loved to draw and painted in watercolours. She tried her hand at various crafts from spinning on a wheel to tapestry weaving. We believe this dress may have been worn by her mother in the 1800’s. Until around the time of the first World War babies and young children wore the same clothes regardless of whether they were boys or girls. Both sexes wore dresses. Baby dresses were generally made in white cotton because it was easily washed and could be bleached to keep them looking fresh. They were often styled with fitted bodices or yokes and had long full skirts. Because many dresses were also ornately trimmed with embroidery and lace, they are now often mistaken as special occasion attire. Most of these dresses, however, were everyday outfits-the standard baby attire of the time. When infants became more active at between four and eight months and began to crawl they went into calf-length white dresses. Before the 1890s children predominantly wore clothing made by their parents. By 1910, retailers saw a significant increase in the sale of manufactured children's clothing, sportswear, and baby clothing. By 1915, baby clothing had become one of the nation's largest industries. #mymaitland See more

18.01.2022 Come on out to Spotlight this Saturday 9am until sold.

16.01.2022 Some of our followers may be interested in this.

15.01.2022 Today we thought we would bring you something from the Swinging 60’s. This little black mini dress belonged to Caroline Bourne nee Capper, (of the old Maitland family) and she was a pharmacist in Lorn. It is made from a black crepe material and fully lined. It features a 4cm stand up neck and sleeveless raglan style armholes. It has a black band of beaded braid at the hip line with double fringes overlapping to the skirt hem. The back zipper is almost as long the dress. Fo...r such a tiny dress it is quite heavy. And now for a bit of history about the early Capper family. Trained in the family business in Birmingham UK as a hardware merchant, Edward Capper migrated with his wife and their son to NSW in 1832. In the 1840’s Edward Capper established a business in Maitland. He had to endure the worst depression the colony had seen before emerging as one of Maitland’s best known businesses. At Cappers you could buy any kind of farm equipment. People came from all over the Northern districts to buy everything from homewares to coffins and gunpowder. Having access to the northern railway network, the Cappers prospered mightily, branching out into property and financing but the large store in High Street was the foundation of their empire. Built in 1888, it consisted of four storeys in the front and three at the rear and to the wonder of the customers, it had a lift! Unfortunately, this impressive building was destroyed by a fire in 1971. Cappers was a household name in Maitland and the Hunter. #maitlandhighstreet #MyMaitland #vintage #museum #vintagefashion #maitlandnsw #museum #fashion See more

14.01.2022 We received this email on Friday. Yayyyyy, if you have weekends free you can pop in anytime or if you would like to organise a group through the week please contact us. #mymaitland

14.01.2022 This piano shawl is made from cream Chinese silk and features a deep silk knotted macrame fringe measuring 42cms and is 155cms square. It is dated somewhere between 1870 and 1900. It is in excellent condition and is believed to have originated in Scotland as a wedding gift and was brought to Australia with colonial settlers whose family ended up residing in Kew, Melbourne. It was displayed in the home of Horace Smith draped over a piano in typical Victorian style. That family... has petered out and rather than throwing it out they thought that the Museum might like it. They were right! We are honoured to have been chosen as the caretakers of such a beautiful item which has become a treasured part of our collection. Piano shawls were popular during the Victorian era, which ran from 1837 to 1901. The piano shawl served a practical purpose of protecting the piano from nicks, scratches, and the elements. Most piano shawls were quite elaborate and also served as a decoration. Piano shawls were very often heavily embroidered with bold colours and patterns unlike this one which is all cream. The patterns often incorporate flowers or nature scenes. It is also quite common for piano shawls to be edged in a long fringe. Not only does the fringe look exquisite, but it also helps to drape the shawl evenly over the piano. The shawls are generally made of thick silk. This fabric glides naturally onto the surface of a piano and is kept in place by its natural weight as well as the weight of the embroidery. They became quite popular in the Victorian era when having a piano in one's parlour was considered to be at the height of sophistication. In addition to serving as a decoration, the piano shawl has also been incorporated into women's fashion. When piano shawls are worn as garments, they are generally used as accessories to evening wear. They can be worn over gowns or even cocktail dresses. They offered warmth and were a very fashionable alternative to a coat. #mymaitland

13.01.2022 It’s Bake Sale time again for the volunteers at the Museum so go on out to Spotlight Rutherford on Saturday 7th November from 9am for yummy homemade delights. #mymaitland

13.01.2022 Wow! We now have 500 followers on Facebook. A big thank you goes out to all for taking an interest in the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles. With your support we will continue to grow and make our Museum bigger and better. Please refer us to your friends and family and let’s make the next goal of 600. #mymaitland #vintagefashion #vintage #museum #maitlandnsw #fashion

11.01.2022 Carefree and happy, take a walk back in time.

10.01.2022 Enjoy a look back at Melbourne Cup fashion from 1962. #mymaitland

10.01.2022 How would girls of today cope with dressing like their female adults?

09.01.2022 Late 19th Century Nightgown Nightwear cut as the male shirt or female shift have been used for centuries. They were bulky and shapeless, but still offered vital protection against the elements and absorbed perspiration, so needed to be washable. White linen, which could be boiled and bleached, was the preferred fabric for all classes, with the quality of the linen denoting economic status.They remained relatively unchanged as the centuries passed, until the 19th century, whe...n nightgowns became more tailored and stylish just like this one. Ready-made nightwear became available in the mid-nineteenth century, but not until late in that century did nightgowns become more elaborate. Still cut loose and long, embellishment on the yoke, front placket, and cuffs could include all manner of ribbon, beading, lace, insertions, pin tucks, embroidery, and ruffles. Now usually made of cotton, white remained the standard colour, although the turn of the century saw occasional use of washing silk and colours, such as pink. This nightgown was donated by a lady born in 1922 and it is believed to have belonged to either her mother or grandmother. It is full length and features raglan sleeves with a lace bodice that gathers onto eyelet lace. It has a lace edging around the neck and sleeves. The back of the garment opens to below the waist and is fastened with 4 small pearl buttons. The front and back bodice lace design is identical. It is in a very good condition. #mymaitland

06.01.2022 Our AGM was held on Wednesday 21st September 2020. The elected Office Bearers are as follows: President - Sandra Earle Vice President - Stephanie Rogers Secretary - Sommer Black... Treasurer - Deborah Tracy Committee Members: Lynette Balser Jacqueline Field Beverly Sippel Kellie Lantry Gail Stevens Jennifer Arthur Collection Manager: Lynette Huckstadt Public Officer: Wendy White Congratulations to all those elected and a big thank you to the outgoing Committee members. See more

05.01.2022 It’s time to plan going forward in 2021/22 and a meeting is being held at Brough House, Church St Maitland on Saturday 17th October from 1 - 3pm. Bring along ideas and dates for our calendar. It’s a great way for new and old members to have their say and get involved. All welcome. #mymaitland

05.01.2022 Another treasure gifted to the museum this week. An elaborate dressing gown from the 1970's. The buyer for the department store, Murray Bros of Paramatta, Gwen Watson, especially procured this garment for a fashion parade in the early 1970's in the underwear department of the store. The gown was worn by June Mansell, born in 1929. June was gifted the dressing gown after the parade. W.R. Murray opened his first store in Parramatta in 1876. He was joined by his brother 4 years later. The historic store stands on the site of a house that belonged to Reverend Samuel Marsden.

04.01.2022 If you can’t make our meeting on Saturday at Brough House we would still love to hear from you. What would you like us to do? Where would you like to see us? What would you like us to show you? What are you interested in regarding fashion history? Do you have a venue we could use? Would you like to make a donation that is tax deductible then we would love to hear from you. Put your thinking caps on and either message us or email your ideas to [email protected]. Thank you in advance for your thoughts #mymaitland

04.01.2022 Spread the word! Our Annual General Meeting will be held at our storage facility, Cnr George and Church Sts Largs on Wednesday 21st October at 12.30pm. All welcome. #mymaitland

03.01.2022 This 1879 Wedding Dress is another wonderful garment that we are lucky enough to have in our collection. It was worn by Mary Trappel (nee Kullner) when she married John (Johann) Trappel. The wedding dress is a light blue brocade princess dress. It is a fitted dress, cut in long panels without a horizontal join or separation at the waist, achieved by way of long seems and shaped pattern pieces (popular in the late 1870s and early 1880s). The dress has a high neckline, is embel...lished with piping at the bust and sleeves, self-fabric buttons at the sleeves, lace trim at the skirt and hand-pleating at the sleeve and dress hemlines, with a bustle at the back. Mary Trappel (nee Kullner) of Germany arrived in Sydney, Australia in March 1852. She married John (Johann) Trappelon the 17th of September, 1879.They lived in Stony Creek near Clarencetown (about 40 kilometres Northeast of Maitland) and ran a dairy farm. Mary and John had ten children. John developed pneumonia and died in September 1896, This was a tragedy for the family as his youngest child was only three months of age. After John’s death Mary struggled alone to bring up her children. Despite obstacles, however, the dairy farm thrived. Mary must have been an astute business woman to have been able to run the farm, cope with a large family as well as being able to finance further land purchases at a time when women were second-class citizens. The Trappels were respected residents of the district. The Dungog Chronicle states that Mrs Trappel was popularly known throughout the whole district, many coming long distances to pay their last respects upon her passing in 1935. Alma Trappel, Mary and John’s second-youngest child, moved to East Maitland in the 1950s, and it was upon Alma’s passing that Mary’s wedding dress was gifted to the Museum of Clothing. The dress is just one of our garments that is recorded on the Australian Dress Register, as ID 584. #mymaitland

03.01.2022 All aproned up for cake stall on Saturday. A typical 1950's housewife. Come along, buy some treats, assist the museum in preserving these clothing gems and have a laugh at Housewife Rules in the 1950's displayed for you to read. At Spotlight, Rutherford