MELBOURNE STORIES | COLONIAL STYLE AND FASHIONABLE MELBOURNE with Laura Jocic

For much of the 19th century Australia was reckoned as a country where there was little need for fashionable dress, yet early visitors to Melbourne commented on the inhabitant’s interest in dress and the plethora of shops which catered for a fashion-conscious clientele. Boosted by the influx of emigrants in the 1850s and a new-found wealth from the goldfields, Melbourne quickly became home to an array of dressmakers, drapers and department stores. Surviving items of dress from the mid-19th to the early-20th century not only attest to the commercial aspect of the clothing industry, but also provide an insight into a society which was finely attuned to the role of fashion as a signifier of prosperity and respectability.

LAURA JOCIC was formerly a curator in the department of Australian Fashion and Textiles at the National Gallery of Victoria where she curated a number of exhibitions including Australian Made: 100 Years of Fashion. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Melbourne, researching dress and its role in Australian colonial society and is also guest curating an exhibition on the artist Louis Kahan’s work in theatre, fashion and art.