This dress was featured in a fashion editorial in the Herald Sun 2012 for a Jerry Hall style look, and also a fashion parade at the Love Vintage fair in 2011 as well as in the book "Style is Eternal" 2009.This dress is representative of 1930s style fashions created by the House of Merivale in the 1970sHalterneck maxi dress with scooped neckline, and deep lace up back. Flared, bias cut skirt perfectly matches up the pinstriped fabric. Centre back nylon zipper. Labelled the House of Merivale

This dress belonged to Bernice Overend, a longtime Brighton resident. Bernice Adelaide Emily Lawn was born in Ballarat in 1911. In 1938 she married Acheson Best Overend (1909-1977), an early modernist architect in Melbourne whose notable designs include the heritage-listed Cairo Flats apartment building in Fitzroy. Bernice and Best made a home together in Brighton, raising their family at 80 Were Street. Their son Darren followed in Best's footsteps, becoming an architect, and in 1979 he and his wife Jenny bought a property just down the road from his childhood home - the heritage-listed 1881 Victorian mansion 'Chevy Chase' at 203 Were Street. Bernice lived in the house with with Darren, Jenny and their three children.White cotton high-waisted maxi dress printed with black spots and trimmed with red rickrack. Elbow length sleeves. Fastens with centre back zip.Label, printed black on white acetate, centre back: JILLIAN / OF / MELBOURNE1970s fashion, maxi dress, bernice overend, overend family, chevy chase, brighton, melbourne designers, jillian of melbourne

Jinoel of Melbourne was a highly successful Australian fashion house launched by Jill and Noel Kemmelfield in 1957. Eleven years later the designers won the [Melbourne] Gown of the Year award. Jill and Noel Kemmelfield were later to launch Marty and Martine, their mid-market labels. They closed their business in the 1980s. The evening coat was owned, worn and donated by Dione McIntyre.This garment is a representative example of high-end Australian boutique fashion from the late 1960s to early 1970s, designed by the prominent Melbourne fashion house Jinoel. Known for sourcing luxury textiles and tailoring sophisticated silhouettes for the contemporary Australian woman, this piece highlights the transition from late-1960s tailored structure into early-1970s dramatic maxi lengths. The use of a bold fabric reflects Melbourne's mid-century cosmopolitan fashion identity and boutique manufacturing era.A structured, full-length maxi-length evening coat dress made from heavy, vibrant yellow silk. The garment features long, slightly tapered three-quarter sleeves and a deep V-neckline framed by a broad notched lapel collar. It features a continuous column closure running down the center front. The waist is defined by a wide, self-fabric matching belt with a prominent rectangular covered buckle, flaring out slightly to a structured, sweeping A-line skirt.Label: Jinoel of Melbourneaustralian fashion, melbourne designers, 1970s fashion, maxi dresses, coatdresses, corduroy, jinoel, flinders lane, dione mcintyre

The dress is an excellent example of mid-1970s evening wear and comes with its original box and dockets. It was purchased from a local op shop by a Brighton Historical Society volunteer, who subsequently donated it to BHS in 2017. The receipts tell us that the dress was originally purchased from Georges department store on Collins Street by Mrs Eunice Amelia Hill (b. 1917) of 6 Webb Street, Brighton. Eunice placed the dress on lay-by and paid for alterations in December 1974; it was delivered to her home in January 1975.Full-length knit dress of blue, green and silver patterned lurex with Georges box and receipts. High neck with metal zip centre back. .1 - dress .2 a-b - Georges box with lid .3 a-c - envelope & 3 layby & alteration receipts stapled together & separate delivery invoice .4 - Receipt for dress alteration & delivery chargeLabel, woven black on white acetate, centre back: PRINTED BY HAND / Pelilla / MADE IN ITALY Label, printed black on white acetate, centre back: 65% RAYON / 35% POLYESTER / MADE IN ITALYevening dress, maxi dress, 1970s, brighton, eunice amelia hill, georges of collins street, pelilla

Printed cotton maxi dress with long sleeves. Print of red, navy, white and green spots. Shirtmaker front which fastens with three covered buttons. Label, woven maroon on cream acetate, centre back: Imported / from Italy / BY GEORGES / OF COLLINS STREETgeorges, georges of collins street, 1970s

Silver, blue and green knitted lurex evening outfit comprising maxi dress (.1) and short blue lurex jacket (.2) with short sleeves. Sleeveless high-necked dress with bold seaweed design. Fastens centre back with long metal zip. Jacket and dress fully lined with dark blue lining.Label, woven black on white acetate centre back jacket: Tricó / ROMAevening outfit, 1970s, lurex

This dress is aestheticaly and historically significant as an intersection of Melbourne's mid-century fashion elite and its pioneering architectural movement. Designed by acclaimed couturier Jill Kemelfield (née Marty), it reflected her emerging interest in the late Mod / Space-Age glamour era, This avant-garde hostess gown was owned and worn by Dione McIntyre, one of Melbourne’s most celebrated and influential modernist architects.The dress’s design—which brilliantly blends the outer elegance of a traditional evening gown with the internal, functional structure of integrated catsuit tights—perfectly mirrors the core philosophy of mid-century modernism: where form flawlessly meets innovative function. McIntyre's choice of this garment highlights how Melbourne's creative vanguard expressed their design ethos across both the built environment and personal style during the late 1960s and early 1970s.A two-piece illusion evening ensemble featuring a sleeveless, floor-length maxi outer dress in an off-white/stone Lurex georgette fabric. The dress features a high boat/slash neckline, clean princess-line tailoring through the bodice, and a full column skirt. The left lateral seam features a high-thigh split fastened with a vertical line of matching cloth buttons or loop details. Built directly into the internal structure of the dress chassis is a pair of in-sewn matching tights/catsuit bodysuit legs, constructed from the same reflective Lurex textile to allow for dramatic, uninhibited leg movement when the side slit parts.Label: JINOEL OF MELBOURNEaustralian fashion - melbourne - 1960s, jinoel of melbourne (vic), mcintyre collection, evening wear, women's clothing, dione mcintyre

Laura and Bernard Ashley began printing fabric in their London kitchen in 1953. Commencing with head scarves and place-mats they gradually developed table-ware and bed sheets. In 1960 they entered the Fashion world with blouses and smocks . The ‘swinging sixties’ saw them in great demand for the feminine florals and flounces of the ‘maxi’ fashions and they opened in smart South Kensington, London. In 1970 they opened franchises in Australia, Canada, Japan, San Francisco that sold their range of fabrics, dresses and accessories. In 1980 home furnishings were added to the range. Laura died in an accident 1985, Bernard retired in1993 and the company is now Public Listed on Stock Exchange.‘Laura Ashley’ clothing, fabric and accessories were very popular in Melbourne in 1970’s.A lady’s white cotton half petticoat with crocheted flounce, Laura Ashley Pty Ltdclothing, brighton, moorabbin, dressmaking, market gardeners, early settlers, craftwork, textiles, laura ashley