Clothing the people: Edwardian & wartime fashion exhibition.

Recently(ish) I went back out to Old Government House to look at another clothing collection.

The sun was shining and I discovered a vintage market just outside.

The Gods were smiling on me.

However it was what was inside that I really wanted to see.  I stepped through the door and went back in time 100 years and got a glimpse of what people wore around the time of World War I.

Tea gowns, dinner gowns, day dresses.  I was in gown heaven.

The gents weren't forgotten.

And I caught a peek of what lay beneath......

Of course these were what the upper classes would have worn, and even though I had daydreams of what it would have been like floating around in one of the above garments, in reality I probably would have been a scullery maid.

However things changed when war broke out and I may have donned a uniform like this.

Much different and a lot less comfortable than what we wore when I trained in the 1990's.  Seeing this made me rather melancholy.

And then I entered the next room......

I wondered what happened to the men who wore these uniforms.
Did they come home?
I hope so.

I needed to lighten the mood.
And found shoes.
That's the ticket!

Then I discovered hats.

And purses!

And sweet, but oddly disturbing photos...........................

Old Government House. Parramatta - October 2014