Hailed as an 'exquisite piece of history', this 250-year-old silk gown, or mantua, was controversially created by women in a style that caused quite a stir in its day.
It's an elegant silk robe decorated with intricate stitching of pink flowers and is a significant piece of Tasmanian fashion history.
"What's really interesting about the mantua from a historical fashion perspective is it was actually quite a radical dress for women at the time," textiles conservator and dress historian Freya Harrington told Joel Rheinberger onThe dress belonged to renowned artist, naturalist and author Louisa Anne Meredith, who lived at Swansea.
Unlike other clothes, the mantua was made by women — much to the ire of the tailors' guilds, which were restricted to men.Meredith's dress was last displayed publicly in early 2023 at the Narryna Heritage Museum in Hobart."We took some really good photos of it and then boxed it away carefully, padded it out with lots of acid-free tissue paper and made sure that she was happy to go away and have some beauty sleep for a while," Ms Harrington said.
"All around the bottom of the hem is quite tattered, and underneath the armpits is kind of falling apart."This 1930s UK bride saved her wedding day memories in a box.
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