Brought up in Southland in a family of sewers, the allure of being able to produce well-finished, quality items of clothing attracted Barbara Brinsley to sew garments like this silk dress, originally worn to her sister’s wedding in Invercargill. Barbara was highly influenced by her well-dressed parents and the polished presentation of people around her at a time when even school girls in uniform would wear panama hats and gloves. Barbara’s enormous love of fashion and belief in fashion as a wearable art form would find her pouring over the latest magazines and Vogue pattern books in
 H & J Smith. She appreciates being bought up during a time of good craftsmanship and non-throw away fashion. Read more about the history of home sewing in the New Zealand Fashion Museum publication Home Sewn.