This suit's owner, Mary Trewby recounts the following:

"Smith & Caughey used to have a wonderful fabric department taking up most of the downstairs back section of the store. I visited often, loving the jewel-coloured fine wools and the delicate silks, many of which cost a small fortune. One day I found five metres of cream shantung silk reduced to $13. When I took it home and thought about what to make, I lost my nerve about cutting into it. My partner suggested I take it to his tailor. Anthony Brent Ltd, run by Len Goldstone, was in the middle of a small block of one-storey wooden shops at the top of Khyber Pass Road. Mr Goldstone was delighted when I explained I wanted a 1930s-style suit – a shaped, single-breasted jacket with a pencil skirt. That was what he had learned his trade making and in the 1970s he rarely got an opportunity to make women’s suits. Mr Goldstone took precise measurements – one of my shoulders is slightly lower than the other, which you can see in the suit photographed on the model – and I had several fittings. The result was stunning and I always felt a million dollars when I wore it."