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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25.01.2022 I found this on Facebook and thought Id share. Who would love a gorgeous umbrella like this, I sure would! #mymaitland

24.01.2022 To all that came out to our Cake Stall today, thank you it was a great success.

24.01.2022 Come on out to Spotlight this Saturday 9am until sold.

24.01.2022 All set up and ready to go. Its the perfect weather for a cuppa and a sweet treat. Spotlight Rutherford! #mymaitland

23.01.2022 Just one of the amazing garments we have at the Museum of Clothing.

22.01.2022 Check out the layers of clothing this poor woman is shedding. I know that I am thankful that fashion has changed. Ps there is no nudity!

21.01.2022 This Chasuble is from the 1950s. A Chasuble is an ornate outer vestment worn by a Catholic or High Anglican priest when celebrating Mass. Little is known of the provenance of this particular garment other than where it was found after the 1955 Maitland Flood in the debris of the Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church. The item was given to a member of the Maitland Repertory Society, who washed and cleaned it as much as possible. The item was then given to Mrs. Nell Pyle, the Reperto...ry's wardrobe mistress at the time and it was stored until donated to the museum in 2005. Often in the aftermath of disasters, items made from paper and cloth were considered too difficult to deal with and were simply thrown away. Fortunately for this item, the rescuer saw it for what is was and considered it worthy to be saved and conserved. The object itself shows some signs that it may have been made during a time of want by resourceful local women who sewed for the church. Traditionally ecclesiastical dress would be made by a specialist Ecclesiastical tailor. The chasuble is one of many items of ecclesiastical dress worn by the priests of the cathedral, probably from a communal wardrobe. Therefore it is difficult to say who it was made for or worn by. The garment, how and where is was found and the fact is was saved at all make this item significant. It is the traditional 'Roman' or 'fiddleback' shape i.e shaped like a violin back. The way in which it has been panelled suggests that the maker did not have a lot of fabric to work with. It could have been made from an older garment, perhaps 'mend and make do'? The back of the garment features the Cross which has been made using a decorative floral woven braid. The initials "IHS" are in the centre of the Cross and a decorative floral design fills the rest of it. The garment is extremely water damaged with colour/dye 'run' evident on the lining. It is extremely worn around the neck line, suggesting high usage. It is one of six garments that we have featured on the Australian Dress Register. Please note the 5th photo is of a similar garment and not in our collection. #mymaitland See more

21.01.2022 Another great addition to our collection. Maitland City Councils Town Clerk gown and wig. #mymaitland #maitlandcitycouncil

21.01.2022 We are happy once again to be working with Maitland Regional Museum and Easts during this exhibition. #mymaitland

19.01.2022 We have in our collection these Tramway Underpants from World War 11 that belonged to Tom Ridley, a 'free spirit' as people remember him. Tom was born in 1901 at Greenwich Point and died in 1993. The 'tram destination' underpants were made for Tom Ridley by his sister-in-law, Mary. Mary made the underpants out of an old decommissioned Sydney Tramway destination roll of material during WWII, from an old WWI pattern. The pants were made with run and fell seams as required durin...g WWI, because lice could hide in French seams. The material was purchased ration coupon-free at a time when material was scarce and also because people of that time were still frugal in their habits, having gone through the Great Depression of late 1920s, early 1930s. This is an amazing piece of Sydney Tram History, as it tells the story of a tram route that was decommissioned during war time. This garment is a perfect example of 'Make do and mend", of wartime rationing and using what you have on hand. It combines the skills of everyday women to use what they could lay their hands on to get by. In the 1960s, he went to live with his sister and brother-in-law, at Hillsborough, Maitland. Tom remained at Hillsborough till he went to live at a nursing home in his early 90s and died there in 1993. The underpants were among the clothing taken there with him. They ended up in a "rag-bag" and were rescued some time later and donated to the museum. #mymaitland See more

19.01.2022 Come out to Spotlight Rutherford. We have lots of goodies for you to buy. All $2 each. Please support our fundraiser. #mymaitland

19.01.2022 We have the two blouses in our museum collection, how lucky are we. Florence Austral was born Florence Mary Wilson, but adopted the professional surname Austral in 1921 in honour of her homeland of Australia. In 1914, she won first prize at a singing contest in Ballarat, obtaining a scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies with Elise Wiedermann. She went to New York in 1919 to study further with Gabriele Sibella. Florence then went to London where she made her... Covent Garden debut on 16 May 1922 as Brünnhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre. Other roles at Covent Garden included Isolde and the title role in Verdis Aida. In 1923, Austral appeared with Dame Nellie Melba who called her, "One of the wonder voices of the world". In 1925, Austral became the second wife of the Australian flautist John Amadio, and they toured widely together in America, Europe and Australia. Florence Austral became a principal singer with the esteemed Berlin State Opera in 1930. It was there in that same year that she showed the first signs of Multiple Schlerosis. Her opera career gradually suffered as a result of the advance of this debilitating disease, but she was still able to devote herself to concert and recital work. Her appearances in opera during this time included ones in her home country, Australia. She returned to Britain in 1939, and appeared in many benefit concerts during the early part of World War 11, before her illness forced her to retire in 1940. In 1946 she returned to Australia. She taught singing at the Newcastle Conservatorium from 1954 until her retirement in 1959. She died in Mayfield, Newcastle on 15 May 1968. #mymaitland Click on the link for a short YouTube video of Florence singing. https://youtu.be/NdiQQUbqN8o See more

19.01.2022 Look at what we came across at the Museum today! Beaded Dress c 1923 This dress was owned and worn by a lady named Dorrie. She only wore it once to her 21st birthday party in 1923 as she could not sit down in it. ... Dorrie was brought up on the Isle of Arran, off the West coast of Scotland, where she was the first woman to own and drive a car. She married in 1929 and went to England to live. Dorrie and her husband eventually moved back to Arran and spent their last remaining years there. She died in 1989 aged 87. Dorrie was the donors mother who brought it with her when she came out to Australia. The dress was designed and made by L C Charlier, 2 Rue Brongniart, Paris. The dress is midi length with a split up either side to make for easy movement. It is heavily beaded from top to bottom, front and back in a floral design. It was worn loose with no buttons or zips. It is very heavy. Some beads have become loose but it is still in great condition for its age, almost 100 years old. #mymaitland

18.01.2022 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

17.01.2022 #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

17.01.2022 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

16.01.2022 Enjoy a look back at Melbourne Cup fashion from 1962. #mymaitland

16.01.2022 Looking at baby wear at the Museum at the moment. Check out these shoes. The brown ones with 3 buttons are from the 1900s and were purchased at an antique shop in Mittagong and unfortunately thats all we know about them. Imagine trying to do up the 3 little buttons on kicking feet! The cream pair are from the 1930s and again little is known about them, we only have the donors name. Gorgeous tiny leather shoes. #mymaitland

14.01.2022 Brand new to the collection this 1960s Beaded Navy Capelet has a lovely swing to it and falls beautifully at the back. It is fastened with a hook and eye at the neck and is beaded around the edges. This net capelet belonged to the donors mother in law, Fayette. Her husband remembers his mother wearing it to a ball in Wagga Wagga with a full skirted black and white dress. Fayette was a teacher in country NSW but grew up in Bondi, Sydney. She always loved the finer things in life especially clothes. It was found amongst Fayettes possessions when she was put into care with Alzheimers. #mymaitland

14.01.2022 Our Cake Stall Fundraiser is coming around quickly. Come on out to Spotlight, Rutherford and get some treats for that special dad. #mymaitland

14.01.2022 Our cake stall is on this Saturday at Spotlight Rutherford. Social distancing and hand sanitising will be a must. We also have card payment available so there is no excuse not to satisfy that sweet tooth. See you there. #mymaitland

13.01.2022 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

13.01.2022 100Years of Fashion 1915 - 2015. Oh my, how the times have changed. #mymaitland

13.01.2022 Wow!! 400 likes for our page. Thank you to everyone for helping to get our name out there. Get your friends and family to like our page and well see how long it takes to get to 500 Well done!!

13.01.2022 Masks from the Spanish Flu pandemic, even for cats. The rules are still the same! #mymaitland

12.01.2022 Just for a bit of fun. This post features mens fashion, music and dance trends from the 1950s through to the 2010s. Cleverly put together, enjoy!

12.01.2022 Brough House is re opening on Saturday 19th September with a joint display with Maitland Regional Museum. Come along and have a look at Winning Isnt Everything Maitlands Sporting History. #mymaitland

12.01.2022 Waiting excitedly for the delivery of clothing belonging to Mrs Mackay. A local resident from many decades ago and instrumental in the formation of the CWA in the Maitland area. Stay tuned for more information regarding her collection.

11.01.2022 We now have in our collection Maitland City Councils mayoral robe worn by mayors in the 1970s and 80s. Worn here by Alderman R W Walsh and again when he met Charles and Diana in Maitland on the 29th March 1983. #mymaitland #maitlandcitycouncil

11.01.2022 We have such amazing garments and stories that need to be enjoyed by many.

11.01.2022 Please, we would love your support by becoming a member of our Museum, its only $10 for 12 months. Just click on the link below for easy payment. #mymaitland

10.01.2022 Seeking a retiree with computer skills to assist in the documentation of the Museum of Clothing's collection. Maitland/Newcastle region. Please contact Lynette Huckstadt on 0408 329 495, email [email protected] or send us a message for more details. #mymaitland

09.01.2022 Here at the Museum we are currently looking at what lies ahead for us in 2021/22 and we would 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? 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

07.01.2022 Frances Gregorys Gown - affectionately known at the museum as The Curtain Dress This 1940s dress is an excellent example of the re-use of materials in a time of scarcity and hardship. It is believed that the fabric was donated by a textile manufacturing firm, possibly from the Hunter Valley, to the Red Cross. It was then parcelled off to Papua New Guinea, to the Australian Army Nurses working there. It was said that the fabric had been intended to be made up as curtains f...or their mess area but no, it was decided that new dresses were higher up the list of items needed, not new curtains! The design of the dress is iconic of the 1940s. It is a long formal length light weight cotton gown. Features numerous pin-tucks around the waist with an over full skirt. It has a left side opening with hook and eye placket. Front has a waist panel with opera top and central horizontal pin tucks and bust darts, bias cut back bodice panel with hand bound edges and fine shoe string rouleau straps. An experienced home sewer/ dress maker would have been quite capable of cutting out this design without a pattern. The most important thing is that it was made and cherished by its owner and survives to this day to tell its story. The fact that this gown made it back home to Australia and was then put back into service as a gown to attend Balls and dances at Maitland Town Hall, and that it has survived to this day, shows that it was a much loved item of clothing and contains many memories. We also have a photo of Fran and her husband Greg where she is wearing the gown with an added neckpiece to a ball in Maitland after the war. #mymaitland See more

06.01.2022 Thank you to all those members who have renewed their membership for 2020/21. If you havent as yet its not too late, we would love to have you back with us again for another year. New members are also welcome. Just click on the following link and it will take you to payment. https://checkout.square.site//64062b727fb54679ae0342db10d2 Alternatively you can contact us by sending a message and we willl send you out a membership form. Just $10 per person or $15 for more than 1 living in the same household. #mymaitland

05.01.2022 A short video of Dame Florence Austral featuring photos and her singing Aida Ritorna Vincitor. We have the blouses featured in our collection. #mymaitland

05.01.2022 The Annual General Meeting of the Australian Museum of Clothing and Textiles Inc will be held at our storage facility, Cnr Church and George Sts Largs NSW on 21st October 2020 at 12md. All welcome. #mymaitland

05.01.2022 We shouldve been at Tocal Homestead today for their annual Peek Into The Past but due to these crazy times it was cancelled. I have shared our video of last year featuring underwear from years gone by. Take a look #mymaitland #tocalhomestead

05.01.2022 Ready, set, go, bake! Come out to Spotlight Rutherford tomorrow for home baked delicious goodness #mymaitland

03.01.2022 Our July monthly meeting will be held this Wednesday 15th July at 12md. Cnr George and Church Sts, Largs. All welcome.

02.01.2022 Some photos for you to enjoy! Underneath It All was a parade of undergarments from 1900 through to the 1940s which was held at Tocal Homestead in 2019. #mymaitland #tocalhomestead

01.01.2022 Wouldnt it be amazing to have a museum like this!