City of Armadale - History House > Records

DRESS - HANDMADE

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2007

Overview

Beige coloured short dress, decorated with sequins sewn into pink flowers and leaves randomly positioned on the front and back amid pieces of lace with applique.
Sleeves are gathered along the shoulder line made from silk matching the lining which is in two separate parts. The dress is made from beige felted merino wool that has been hand sewn.

Historical information

This handmade dress was created by Charlene O'Brien under her label name Tierra Ecologia and was modelled at the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris in 2007. The dress was designed around the principles of ethical clothes making which has become an issue in the early 2000s due to the globalisation of clothes making with many clothing factories in poor, underdeveloped countries where wages and conditions are poor. This dress was made for a fashion show.
Charlene specialises in creating her own handcrafted ecologically friendly textiles using natural fibres and Australian plant dyes which she uses in her clothing design and creation in her Kelmscott studio. She established and ran the company from 1997-2011. In 2015 Charlene was a finalist for the IE Award on Sustainability in the Premium and Luxury Sector for her fashion label. Charlene also works with community workshops in Cambodia though the organisation Fairsew who transports and ethically manufacture fabrics and some clothing items for her.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2016.12

Item type

Costumes

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Lace

Width

1040 mm

Height or length

1000 mm

Keywords

Year

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collection of items that tells the story of the creativity and ingenuity of members of the local community in relation to art, design and engineering/construction. The collection relates to expressions of creativity that impacted an individual or small group of people to objects that have been enjoyed around the world.

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

City of Armadale - History House

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