The Australian Dress Register will document significant and well provenanced men’s, women’s and children’s dress in New South Wales dating up to 1945. It aims to assist museums and private collectors to recognise and research their dress collections and support better care and management. It will engender an improved understanding of dress in its wider historical context and help to ensure information about its origins is recorded while still available and within living memory.

Institutional partners will join with the Powerhouse Museum project and regional partners will be sought to ensure broad engagement with the project. Organisations or individuals willing to assist with the delivery of the program across the State in particular are invited to register their interest in the project.

It is hoped the Register will provide an evolving forum for discussion and enhanced documentation. Useful links will assist with all aspects of historical collections such as research, documentation, photography, storage, display and critical analysis. The online resource will encourage collectors to consider their collections very broadly and preserve and share what they know about people, their dress and life in the past.

This program is an initiative of the Powerhouse Movable Heritage NSW program which is coordinated through its Regional Services program to support research and documentation of cultural heritage collections. It is funded by Arts NSW.
Powerhouse Museum

The Powerhouse Museum would like to thank the Collections Australia Network (CAN) for assistance with the development of this initiative.
Collections Australia Network (CAN)

Frequently asked questions