(Photo:black formal dresses)The Dowse Art Museum’s new exhibition covers a lot, even if some of the featured swimsuits don’t.
From the woollen bathers of the early 1900s to the more minimal swimsuits of today, At the Beach: 100 Years of Summer Fashion in New Zealand explores more than a century of New Zealand beach culture told through what we wore.
NZ Fashion Museum founder and curator Doris de Pont created the exhibition for the New Zealand Maritime Museum in Auckland last summer, and the Dowse will be its first tour.
The Dowse was always looking at ways to use fashion to talk about who we are as New Zealanders and beachwear strongly showed our national identity, de Pont says
„I think fashion is a lens that you can look at our history through,“ she says.
„The beach story for me is about defining our New Zealandness. We really are an island nation and very much related to the coast and the sea and everything that means.“
Kiwis have a unique sense of style, particularly with our concepts of formal and informal wear, she says.
„That’s the thing, I suppose, in New Zealand fashion that we always sort of play with … that formality of city wear, but we never quite let go of our jandals.
„We like that holiday atmosphere, getting away from it all. The objective of an exhibition like this is to sort of trigger those connections for people.“
Kiwis also had more need for practical swimwear, as we spend so much of our time being active, de Pont says.
„Our beach-going is very different from the rest of the world: we go there to fish, hang out, picnic and play cricket.“
It is easy to see how changes in technology, morality and attitudes to sunbathing, as well as the influence of Hollywood impacted swimwear here, de Pont says.
There is now a shift back towards covering up, and the last piece of the exhibition – a long-sleve piece from Kiwi brand Moontide’s 2017 season – reflects this.
Visitors to the exhibition can expect a sense of nostalgia and a few laughs, she says.
„I think there are some suits there that will really bring a smile to peoples faces: We have budgy smugglers in a blue metallic print – I’m sure those will raise a smile.
„Clothing is something that people relate to. Everyone wears clothes so they have some experience and thought about it.“Read more at:marieaustralia.com