Fashion designer Megan Douglas entered this dress in the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards Young Designer section in 1986. The awards were an important platform for designers wishing to make their mark in the blossoming world of fashion in 1980s New Zealand, an effect that was amplified when the awards
 were broadcast on national television. Although this dress failed to make the final three in the awards, it charmed Stephanie Tattersfield who bought it and wore it a lot and updated it by removing the original shoulder pad and adjusting the shoulder line. Read more about wearing the colour black in the New Zealand Fashion Museum publication Black: The history of black in fashion, society and culture in New Zealand.