Clothing. Woman's black ribbed silk bodice, fully ;lined with black cotton fabric. High round neckline with stand up lined lace collar (4cm), fastened left of centre at front with two metal hooks and eyes. Front lining fastened with twelve metal hooks and eyes from throat to waistband. Waistband (5.5cm) of horizontal pleated fabric. Small pocket (8cm X 6cm) attached to inside lining on LHS. Waistband has 7 cm cross over tab section at centre front fastened with three metal hooks and eyes. Centre front opening is edged with black lace and tucked spotted voile, fastened with three metal hooks and eyes.A wide shawl collar across the shoulders extends and gathers into the waistband at front and back. This forms a V shaped opening at the front exposing the lace and voile beneath.The inner and outer edges of the collars have decorative knots. The centre of the collars have 18cm pin tucks from the shoulder seam at the front and 11 cm pin tucks at the back.At centre back. a panel of black lace runs from the collar to the hem of the waistband. Two gathered fabric tails are attached at centre back to hang below the hem of the waistband. Decorative lace as stitched across the shawl collar at the shoulders seams, ending with a decorative knot and cotton tassell (7cm). Set in Leg 'o'Mutton sleeves are gathered around the arm holes and gathered into a band of fabric with decorative lace and knots. The narrow lower section has a turned over hem edged with decorative knots and black lace. Each sleeve has a 5cm slit at the wrist. The bodice has fifteen bone casings spaced across the garment, from the waistband. These are stitched in place with yellow cotton. Some internal seams finished with yellow cotton. Hand stitched. Word ''GLEN" is written on one bone casing. Temporary darts have been stitched on both side seams with red cotton to reduce the size.costume, female, woman's black ribbed silk bodice.

Alonzo Box, of Oakleigh ,a nephew of William and Elizabeth Box who resided in 'Box Cottage' 1865 - 1914, married Mary Closter (Kloster), of Oakleigh, on June 12th 1918. Alozo's elder sister, Rebecca, sent a bolt of Chinese hand-embroidered silk from which this wedding dress was made. Rebecca Viloudakia, nee Box, was a missionary in China, and married to a Greek Silk Merchant. Alonzo Box, the 9th child of John and Martha Sheldrake Box , enlisted in the Army and landed at Gallipoli 25/4/1918. He was evacuated to Egypt and then sent to the battlefields of France and Flanders before returning home to Melbourne in February 1918. Rebecca Box, the eldest child of John and Martha Sheldrake Box, was in the first party of Methodist Missionaries to leave Australia for the China Inland Mission in 1890. During the Boxer Uprising 1900-1901 her Mission outpost was attacked but she escaped and was taken to Shanghai. She later married one of the rescue party Nicholas Viloudakia a Greek silk merchant .Australian Dress Register ID 573 12/5/2015 Following Henry Dendy's Special Survey 1841 pioneer settlers bought allotments of land in the area of Moorabbin Parish. Alonzo Box was the nephew of William and Elizabeth Box who bought the cottage on the 30acre allotment from an unknown pioneer settler in 1868 and resided there until Elizabeth's death in 1914. Alonzo Box served in the Army World War 1 1914- 1918 at Gallipoli, France and Flanders. Rebecca Box -Viloudakia was in the first party of Methodist Missionaries to leave Australia for the China Inland Mission in 1890 and was rescued during the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901 and taken to Shanghai by her future husband.A cream two piece wedding dress made from a bolt of hand embroidered Chinese silk for the marriage of Mary Closter and Alonzo Box on June 12th, 1918. The bolt of Chinese silk was sent by Alonzo’s older sister, Mrs Rebecca Viloudakia, a missionary in China, who was married to a Greek silk merchant. The machine sewn dress was made by a dressmaker in Dandenong, Victoria. The jacket is blouson, with a front opening and is gathered at the waist by a band enclosing a drawstring. The collar is a sailor style that forms a slight / high V-shape front neckline. Four vertical roses are separated by three bands of lacework. The back of the jacket is plain silk. The right front of the jacket has a panel of embroidered roses, band of lacework and a facing fold that encloses 4 fastening presses. There are crocheted bobbles on the front representing buttons. The left jacket front also has the panel of embroidered roses, lacework and matching fold for the 4 fastening studs. The full length inset sleeves are gathered to a cuff that fastens with silk covered buttons. The sleeves have floral embroidery down the outside centre line. The left sleeve has an extra detachable cuff with embroidery on the flounce that matches the bottom panel of the skirt. It is held in position around the wrist by 4 white metal press studs. The skirt sits above the ankle. It consists of 5 panels slightly gathered at the back waistline with a left side placket 21cm with hooks and eyes and press studs. The waistband is lined with petersham and has 6 whalebone inserts. The front of the skirt has small pleats to fit the 3 decorated panels to the waistline. The front has 3 bands of lacework around the lower part. 3 panels form the centre front each embroidered with a different floral pattern. The back of the skirt is plain with 3 bands of lacework rising from the hem, which is sewn with spoke work stitch. The long waist sash/belt is plain silk with embroidered ends and 3 silk balls with crocheted caps suspended on 3 crocheted silk chains. It has a rose knot with 2 metal press stud fasteners. There are a variety of floral designs embroidered on the material including ‘corner motifs’ on the 2nd inner front panel of skirt. brighton, moorabbin, silk, box william, box elizabeth, box alonzo, box mary, kloster mary, closter mary, oakleigh, dandenong, chinese silk merchant, boxer rebellion 1900-1901, box rebecca, methodist china inland mission, viloudakia nichols, anzac landings, world war 1, gallipoli

Ivory coloured silk bodice. Part of wedding ensemble with matching skirt with train. (11400.513B). The silk fabric has an all over pattern of scattered leaves. The bodice has long sleeves and is fully lined with cotton fabric with a front opening. The cotton lining at the front forms a separate bodice with a front opening fastened with fifteen hooks and eyes from throat to waist. The lining is edged at centre front on both sides with a border of the silk fabric. The border narrows from 7 cm at the throat to 3 cm at the waist. In the lining of the bodice are two casings on either side of the front opening containing boned segments. Across the lining of the back are seven casings containing boned segments. The front LHS of the bodice has an outer layer of silk fabric with a squared neckline. The RHS of the bodice overlaps the centre opening of the bordered lining to attach across the left shoulder. From the left shoulder the front tapers diagonally to the waistline 4cm to the left of centre. This cross over section is fastened with ten hooks and eyes – seven of the eyes are attached to the bodice lining and three are on the LHS outer silk fabric layer. This section crosses full width to the edge of the LH sleeve, across the top of the shoulder to the neckline. The LHS outer section crosses back over the edge of the centre section. There is a third layer on the RHS with a squared neckline to form a symmetrical appearance. The two side sections are edged with ruffles of fine silk ribbon. The centre section of the crossover part has vertical pintucks extending from the throat for 9 cm. The fullness created by the pintucks is gathered to centre front where the waist dips to a shallow V shape. The back of the bodice has vertical pintucks extending 12 cm from across the shoulders, narrowing to a single vertical strip of pintucks (4 cm) ending at centre waist. The waist is edged with a border of silk ribbon with a horizontal tuck. Inside the back of the bodice above the waist cotton tape ties are attached. These ties extend to the front of the bodice and the ends are fastened with a metal buckle. On this cotton tape at centre back there are to metal hooks for attaching the skirt. Attached to the neckline of the front section of the bodice is a 7 cm stand up collar. The collar extends from the RH shoulder in front of the neck and across the LH shoulder and continues unattached around the back of the neck to attach to the edge of the collar at the RH shoulder. The edges of the collar are fastened with three hooks and eyes. The collar has three full width horizontal pleats and the top edge is trimmed with a frill of fine gathered silk ribbon. On the waistline at centre front and centre back are decorative buttons (3.5 cm) of pearl coloured beads. The buttons have a centre pearl bead bordered by small glass beads surrounded by 9 smaller pearl beads and nine small pearl beads. Each button is edged with a row of tiny class beads with 18 points. The long sleeves are fully lined and made of two sections. The underneath section of the sleeve is ungathered and shaped at the elbow. The upper section of each sleeve is gathered at the shoulders and attached to the underneath section with a series of small pleats down to the elbow creating fullness. There is a small cap sleeve at each shoulder over the top of the gathered sleeve. The cap sleeves are edged with a frill of gathered silk ribbon with a decorative row of gathered silk ribbon parallel to the edge. At each wrist is a gathered frill of silk fabric edged with silk ribbon. Each sleeve has an 8 cm split at the wrist on the back seam. Full length ivory coloured silk skirt. The silk fabric has an all over pattern of scattered leaves. The skirt is fully lined with cotton fabric. The skirt is made of 5 pieces. The centre front panel has two darts at the waistline. The two side panels are cut on the bias and wrap around to form a centre back seam gathered into the waistband and finishing 44 cm below the waist line. Two triangular pieces of fabric are inserted at the back below the centre seam to complete the full circle of the skirt. There is 30 cm back opening. The waistband is made of cotton tape (3cm) fastened with two hooks and eyes with a 2 cm crossover. There is another hook and eye fastener halfway along the opening split. There is one upward facing hook on either side of the centre back opening to attach the matching bodice. The LHS of the back opening has a cotton fabric pocket inserted along the seam. The hem of the skirt is edged with two 5 cm frills of gathered silk fabric.costume, female daywear, silk bodice

On the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Uniforms donator Doug wrote- During the 1980s the Australian wool industry was at its most prosperous times with record numbers of sheep producing wool receiving ever increasing values due to the success of the Reserve Price Scheme, and the overall guidance of the Australian Wool Corporation (AWC). As a humble technician, my role was a low profile newly created position of “Controller, Technical Marketing” where wool was to be marketed on its technical properties, as distinct from the “Product Marketing Group” which exploited trhe traditional high profile approach of marketing wool;s superior fashion attributes. The Woolmark was the tool central to this approach. When the forthcoming Los Angeles Olympic Games was announced, the Product Marketing Group seized upon the chance to show the world that we could make top fashion garments and display them on our elite athletes on the world stage. A concept was launched using a contemporary top designer, Adel Weiss, with the most exclusive fabrics and knits available, and all with a lot of hype. This launch failed dismally for the following reasons- - The designer did a wonderful job presenting an excellent fashion range on perfect skinny models. The AOC however wanted a uniform which had an obvious Australian appearance when fitted to elite, and frequently muscular, athletes. - The fabrics chosen did not reflect the performance required by travelling athletes, there was no recognition of the need for ‘easy care.’ - There was no recognition given to the problem of measuring, manufacturing and distribution of a range of articles when the selected athlete could be domiciled anywhere in Australia. - There was no appreciation of such historical facts as Fletcher Jones, who had been unofficial suppliers dating back to the 1954 Olympics in Melbourne, and the Fletcher Jones board member, who was also an AWC board member, and was not in favour of the change. The project passed from Product Marketing to Public Relations, a big spending off-shoot of the AWC Chairman David Asimus, and due to the day to day operations of the project was passed to me and PR took care of the financial matters. The first task was to meet with the AOC and find out exactly their requirements. This lead to the production of a design and manufacturing brief, cointaining exact time lines for each event required to ensure an appropriate uniform on every athlete chosen to represent his/her country on the date given for the Opening Ceremony in Los Angeles. Working backwards the timeline becomes- 1. Noted the exact date of the Opening Ceremony. 2. Estimated the date for distributing completed garments to each athlete. 3. Estimated the time span available for measuring each athlete and commence making each component of the ensemble to the individual measurements of each athlete. 4. Decided the date for making the final choice of uniform design concept. 5. Decided the date for distribution of the design brief to selected designers. These five steps were spread out over a two year period. The Commonwealth Games occur midway between each Olympic Games, work on the Olympic uniform commences the week after the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony and MUST be ready by the prescribed day two years hence. The project also had to remain cognisant of trade politics existing within the span of the task, as well as the temperament of designers in general. It is no overstatement to say that in the past every designer in Australia believed they could, and should, be chosen to design the Australian Uniform. The final choice of designer almost always faced criticism from the fashion press and any designer who had been overlooked. However, with the contenders receiving an exacting brief the numbers of serious contenders greatly reduced. The Los Angeles Olympic Uniforms. A further reason for the AWC bid failure to design the LA uniform was that the AOC had already chosen Prue Acton to design it. This was based on her proven performance during previous games as she had a talent for creating good taste Australiana. Her design concepts also considered the effect when they were viewed on a single athlete as well as the impact when viewed on a 400 strong team coming on to the arena. A blazer trouser/skirt uniform in bright gold was chosen for the formal uniform. It was my task to select a pure wool faille fabric from Foster Valley weaving mill and have sufficient woven and ready within the prescribed timeline. The trouser/skirt fabric selected was a 60/40 wool polyester plain weave fabric from Macquarie Worsted. This fabric had a small effect thread of linen that was most attractive when dyed to match some eucalyptus bark Prue had brought back from central Australia. For the Opening Ceremony uniform, Prue designed a series of native fauna, a kookaburra for the men’s shirt and a pleated skirt with a rural scene of kangaroos, hills and plants. This presented an insurmountable printing challenge to the local printing industry as it had an unacceptably large repeat size and the number required (50) was also commercially unacceptable. The solution was a DIY mock up at RMIT and the employment of four student designers. The fabric selected for this garment was a light weight 19 micron, pure wool with a very high twist yarn in alternating S and Z twist, warp and weft. This fabric proved to be the solution to a very difficult problem, finding a wool product which is universally acceptable when worn next to the sin by young athletes competing in the heat of a Los Angeles summer. Modifications to this fabric were developed to exploit its success when facing the same problem in future games. Garment Making- The most exacting garment in the ensemble is the tailored blazer, plus the related trouser/skirt. Unfortunately tailoring athletes that come in various shapes and sizes such as; - Weight lifters develop an enormous chest, arms and neck size. A shirt made to a neck size of 52 would produce a shirt with cuffs extending well beyond the wearer’s hands. - Basketball players are up to 7 feet tall and garments relying ona chest measurement grading would produce a shirt with cuffs extending only to elbow length. - Swimmers develop enormous shoulders and slim hips, cyclists by contrast develop thighs I liken to tree trunks and a uniform featuring tight trousers must be avoided at all cost. Suffice to say many ensembles require specialist ‘one off’ treatment for many athletes. Meanwhile there is a comfortable in between group who can accept regular sizes so you can cater for these by having back up stock with plenty of built in contingencies. Athletes may be domiciled anywhere in Australia, this creates a fundamental problem of taking their measurements. The Fletcher Jones organisation was key to answering this problem due to their presence in every capital city, as well as many provincial towns around Australia. Each athlete on being selected for the Olympic Team was simultaneously requested to visit their nearest Fletcher Jones shop. The standardised measurement data collected was shared with the other manufacturers, e.g. Pelaco Shirts, Holeproof Socks and Knitwear, Maddison Belts, and even Hush Puppy Shoes. As the time for the Games approached the AOC made arrangements for combining meeting of all. Selected available athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, where, among other things, they were fitted and supplied with their uniform. The method evolved as follows.Men’s cream coloured button up, collared shirt. Images of a kookaburra have been printed onto the shirt, a single kookaburra on the left breast and a pair of kookaburras on the reverse of the shirt. The kookaburras are printed in a brown tone to complement the cream colour of the fabric.On tag - FMaustralian wool corporation, 1984 los angeles olympics, olympic uniforms, men's uniforms, sport, athletes

Colour photograph of an exhibit at the Dior Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.dior, exhibition, national gallery of victoria, ngv international, fashion, designer, gowns, dress, 1950s, 1960s, grey, wool, pleat