Wedding gown with 16-gore skirt & train

Norma Evans made her exceptionally well-made wedding gown for her own marriage to returned serviceman Bob Evans on 24 April 1946 at St Luke's Church, Oamaru. "It was the nicest I could make" she recalls. It was worn with a single string of pearls, drop earrings, and a veil which are all in Rotorua Museum’s collection, along with the white prayer book she carried.

 

Details

Credit: Images courtesy of Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa (1996.22.489)
Copyright: Image © Rotorua Museum Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa
Maker: Norma Evans
Manufacturing location: Kurow, North Otago
Garment type: Wedding dress
Material: Satin
Features: This wedding gown features an elegant 16-gore skirt which fans to a wide circle and forms a train. The bodice, which has a gathering motif, has a scalloped V neckline and the long sleeves with wide shoulders and intricate gathering detail supported by canvas shoulder pads and wading. The back of the bodice has a waistline V from which the panels of the skirt fall. All edges are scalloped and defined with topstitching.
Colour: Ivory
Date: 1946