As part of the National Trust's Australian Heritage Festival 2021, the Kew Historical Society and the Villa Alba Museum collaborated to mount a fashion and design exhibition. The theme of the exhibition took its focus from the year-long program at the Museum featuring the use of flowers in design. The walls and ceilings of the house are notable for their use of floral and narrative painted decoration produced, in the early 1880s, for William and Anna Maria Greenlaw by the Melbourne art decoration firm the Paterson Brothers. The examples of fashion and design from the collection of the Kew Historical Society were located on the ground floor of the house: in the drawing room, dining room, morning room and in the vestibule, or ballroom as it was sometimes described in nineteenth century newspapers. The exhibition was supported by the City of Boroondara through Triennial Operational Grant funding for the Kew Historical Society and the Villa Alba Museum.Series of photographs taken by Mitchell Luo Photography of exhibition pieces in situ at the Villa Alba Museum in May 2021.textiles in bloom, exhibitions — villa alba museum, australian heritage festival 2021

From its beginnings in 1958, the Society has mounted exhibitions and/or displays, in early days in shop windows and in community spaces located in the Kew City Hall (later Kew Library), and since 2010 at the Kew Court House. Exhibitions typically coincided with the annual Kew Community Festival in March, but after 2013 evolved into three new exhibitions yearly at the Kew Court House. Smaller displays continue to be mounted in the Kew Library. Series of born digital images of a lecture and an exhiition at the Villa Alba Museum in 2016 of Victorian era costumes, largely drawn from the Coombs Collection of the Society. The mounting of the costumes was made possible by a City of Boroondara Strengthening Communities grant for 2015-16. Most of the costumes displayed here are separately catalogued on Victorian Collections.kew historical society - exhibitions, villa alba museum, victorian fashion, fashion & design exhibition

As part of the National Trust's Australian Heritage Festival 2021, the Kew Historical Society and the Villa Alba Museum collaborated to mount a fashion and design exhibition. The theme of the exhibition took its focus from the year-long program at the Museum featuring the use of flowers in design. The walls and ceilings of the house are notable for their use of floral and narrative painted decoration produced, in the early 1880s, for William and Anna Maria Greenlaw by the Melbourne art decoration firm the Paterson Brothers. The examples of fashion and design from the collection of the Kew Historical Society were located on the ground floor of the house: in the drawing room, dining room, morning room and in the vestibule, or ballroom as it was sometimes described in nineteenth century newspapers. The exhibition was supported by the City of Boroondara through Triennial Operational Grant funding for the Kew Historical Society and the Villa Alba Museum.Series of photographs of exhibition pieces in situ at the Villa Alba Museum in May 2021.fashion & design, exhibitions -- kew historical society, exhibitions --- villa alba museum, textiles in bloom, fashion - nineteenth century, fashion -- twentieth century, textiles - nineteenth century, headwear -- twentieth century

Series of photos taken at the Exhibition of 200 Years of Wedding Fashion in Australia, a collection of wedding gowns from the Fashion Collection of the Kew Historical Society. Exhibition venue - Villa Alba Museum, 44 Walmer Street, Kew, 3101. wedding dresses, kew historical society, villa alba museum, 2025 australian heritage festival

Open House 2022: "Like many Melburnians, Ying-Lan Dann has long been fascinated by the Mission to Seafarers, in Docklands. When she was invited to create a work in response to a building as part of this year’s Open House Melbourne, she knew immediately which it would be. Taking a peek behind the closed doors of some of Melbourne’s finest and most interesting buildings is a core premise of the weekend event, now in its 15th year. During that time, the program has grown from half a dozen buildings to a 200-plus strong list that extends to Ballarat and Bendigo. “[It’s] much more expansive and citizen-led,” says Fleur Watson, Open House Melbourne’s executive director. “As a public festival, it has always had a spirit of generosity, this gesture of opening up and allowing visitors to come and look and experience things.” Swinging open their doors at the end of the month will be some of the city’s finest mansions, including Villa Alba in Kew and Brighton’s Billilla, the Cairo flats in Fitzroy, the newly renovated Jewish Museum designed by Kerstin Thompson, the Melbourne Quakers Centre, the Albanian Mosque in Carlton North and many more. Considering how to approach the event this year, held remotely for the past two, Watson decided to explore beyond the traditional, with associate professor and director of curatorial practice at Monash University Tara McDowell. The two have co-curated an exhibition of works to run concurrently with the Open House program, called Take Hold of the Clouds. That’s where Dann’s work, Circular Temporalities, comes in, one of seven commissions around town in which local and international artists respond to chosen buildings or sites. A lecturer in interior design at RMIT as well as an artist, she is interested in time and finding different mediums to show things in flux and, having grown up on Phillip Island, she often uses water as a theme. When she started spending time at the Mission, Dann found there was an oculus at the top of the dome, known as the Norla Dome. She thought about how that small but significant opening related to where sailors spent so many months of the year, the sky being the only thing they would see much of the time, stars guiding the way in times gone by, and of the recent stories she’d heard about sailors being trapped at sea during COVID. Built in the Arts and Craft style between 1916 and 1919 and designed by architect Walter Butler, the Mission includes a chapel, clubroom, Chaplain’s house, a small cottage and the Norla Dome, which was apparently inspired by the Pantheon. The Mission was funded by the government and the Ladies Harbour Lights Guild, who Dann was also intrigued by. “One of the things those women identified is that life at sea is very dangerous [and they] wanted to give them a space of sanctuary and support,” she says, adding that for many years, the dome was used as a gymnasium. Her work inside the dome includes a 35-minute loop film, recorded from the ferry during the crossing from Queenscliff to Sorrento. The horizon takes up about a third of the shot and moves as the waves rise and fall, mirroring the journeys made by the sailors who found refuge at the mission over the years; it will be projected onto a gauze-like fabric, allowing glimpses of the building behind. Dann also plans to activate the site over the course of the weekend and will read a poem by Justin Clemens.The articles gives an insight of the création of the artwork by Ying-Lan Dann. digital copy of an article with photographs published in the Ageopen house melbourne, 2022, ying-lan dann, take hold of the clouds, norla dome, exhibition, the age, cultural events

A report in the Southern Argus (S.A.) described the bride's dress as: Magnolia chiffon velvet fashioned the lovely wedding gown, made with square-neck bodice, and long tight cowl sleeves, and allied to a softly flaring skirt, which extended at the back into a graceful train. The veil of old Spanish lace (a gift from her aunt) was mounted on filmy magnolia, tulle, caught with an orange blossom halo. Full length Magnolia chiffon velvet wedding dress with square-neck bodice, and long tight cowl sleeves above a softly flaring skirt which extends at the back into a graceful train. The gown was worn by Elsie Lorance (Laurie) Jenkins at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Mildura in 1934.The photo was taken when the dress was displayed at Villa Alba Museum in 2025 as part of an exhibition by Kew Historical Society of 'wedding fashion'.weddings -- mildura (vic.) -- 1934, st andrew’s presbyterian church mildura, elsie lorance (laurie) jenkins, fashion -- 1930s

The Kew Historical Society holds a nationally significant Fashion & Design collection. In 2023 this collection was augmented by a donation by descendants of Francis Henty of nineteenth and early twentieth century costumes and costume accessories. These rare and aesthetically significant acquisitions increased the importance of the nineteenth century costume collection held by the Society. Following their accession, the Henty costumes were exhibited with other notable examples of fashion and design, previously donated by descendants of the Coombs and Weir families.28 x Exhibition photos of Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900, held at Villa Alba Museum during the 2023 Australian Heritage Festival. The exhibition showcased items drawn from the Henty, Coombs and Weir Collections.fashion -- nineteenth century, exhibitions -- kew historical society, henty collection, coombs collection, weir collection

The Kew Historical Society holds a nationally significant Fashion & Design collection. In 2023 this collection was augmented by a donation by descendants of Francis Henty of nineteenth and early twentieth century costumes and costume accessories. These rare and aesthetically significant acquisitions increased the importance of the nineteenth century costume collection held by the Society. Following their accession, the Henty costumes were exhibited with other notable examples of fashion and design, previously donated by descendants of the Coombs and Weir families.7 x Photos of the opening night of Fashion in the Age of Elegance 1840-1900, held at Villa Alba Museum during the 2023 Australian Heritage Festival. The exhibition showcased items drawn from the Henty, Coombs and Weir Collections. Guests included members of Kew Historical Society, Villa Alba Museum, Heidelberg Historical Society, Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Museums Victoria, City of Boroondara, and National Gallery of Victoria. fashion -- nineteenth century, exhibitions -- kew historical society, henty collection, coombs collection, weir collection