here’s what sydney women were wearing in the 1890s
Many generations ago, folks would flip through illustrated catalogues to spy the latest in fashion and furniture. We like to imagine that the shoppers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries would simply dog-ear the pages that their possible purchases were illustrated on – kind of like how we add items to the wishlists and carts of online shops today.
The Museums of History New South Wales (MHNSW), which launched late last year, has the very important job of collecting, preserving and providing public access to objects and materials, including these old shopping publications. The MHNSW currently houses hundreds of retail trade catalogues in its library and house museums, MHNSW research librarian Dr Matthew Stephens tells us. “Now often called the ‘internet of their day’, by the early 20th century, some of these publications distributed by department stores and specialty shops contained over 1000 pages of products available for purchase,” he says.
“They were distributed not only in Sydney but across the state, making their way to the smallest towns and the remotest farm gate to be devoured by consumers. The largest catalogues would contain everything from footwear to agricultural equipment, while many of the latest fashions appeared in dedicated clothing publications.”
The MHNSW has kindly shared a bunch of old fashion catalogues with us, which are filled with illustrations of all the swish dresses, coats and hats that women were buying and wearing in Sydney many moons ago. “The examples featured here were published mainly in the 1890s and one, belonging to the family at Rouse Hill Estate, appears to have had a second life as a child’s colouring book!” Dr Stephens says.
To digitally flip through the pages of more of these fascinating catalogues, head here.
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