Unveiled Public Programs

Past events and programs

The language of love: brides, weddings and symbols

Ariel Armarego-Marriott
Fashion researcher
1.00pm, Sunday 17 and 24 March

Weddings today are often laden with symbolism: why the bride chooses a particular colour and style of her wedding dress, why the veil did or did not cover her face throughout the ceremony, and whether she observes the tradition of 'something old, something new'... and this is by no means a recent phenomenon. For the past 200 years what the bride (and on occasion the groom) has worn and other decisions regarding the ceremony have often been subject to close scrutiny for encoded meaning by family, friends, society and in more recent years the media. The language of wedding symbolism has not remained static with time, but as fashions change, so does this symbolic language and the various messages conveyed … messages of love and purity, personal identity, and expectations of future emotional and financial security.

Join Ariel Armarego-Marriott as she discusses the language of love and the evolution of wedding symbolism in a floortalk journey through Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Glamour.

COST: Free event. Admission fees apply for exhibition.
BOOKINGS: No bookings required. Please register for this floortalk tour at the front desk on arrival on the day

Pop-up Gin Garden

5.00pm - 9.00pm, Thursday 21 March

To celebrate Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Glamour at the Western Australian Museum, Hippocampus Memorable Drinks, Heyder & Shears Exclusive Caterers and the Muse Cafe present the Pop Up Gin Garden.

Start the night with a tour of the exhibition where you’ll see some of the world’s most dramatic and unique wedding fashion direct from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Afterward, celebrate all things English and enjoy a memorable evening of delicious beverages, snacks, croquet and live music. This is an 18+ event only.

COST: $18.00 Gin Garden only; $35.50 Gin Garden + Unveiled entry.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/pop-gin-garden

The inspired bride: design, transformation and celebration

Aurelio Costarella (Fashion Designer, Aurelio Costarella Pty Ltd) and Leigh O’Brien (Curator - History, WA Museum)
1.00pm, Saturday 23 March

Join Aurelio Costarella and Leigh O’Brien as they discuss fashion design and the historical wedding dress, exploring how glamour and techniques from the past can provide a palette of elements to inspire the contemporary designer. On this highlights journey through Unveiled: 200 Years of Wedding Glamour, Aurelio will discuss his own design approach to creating ‘the dress’ for the modern bride on her special day.

COST: Free event. Admission fees apply for exhibition.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/inspired-bride-design-transformation-and-celebration

Ms Mavis Hamm Presents … ‘Glamourama!’ - BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

1.00pm and 2.30pm – Saturday 9 March.

Join glamour planner and fashion assassin Ms Mavis Hamm for a comedy tour with a difference! Explore the Unveiled: 200 years of wedding glamour exhibition with the eagle eye of Mavis as your guide, as she shares her very personal take on the drama, the tears, the love and the laughter that offer a hidden story (and rumour) behind every good wedding event.

Starring the irrepressible Monica Main as your host.

COST: Free performance tour. Admission fees apply for exhibition.
AGES: Suitable for all ages 5+
BOOKINGS: Please register for this performance tour at the front desk on arrival on the day.
Find out more.

WA wedding dresses and Unveiled highlights tour

1.00pm Sunday 13 January
1.00pm Sunday 3 February
1.00pm Sunday 10 March

Leigh O’Brien - Curator, History Department, and Exhibition Project Manager (WA Museum), Unveiled.
Join Leigh O’Brien to explore the fascinating stories behind the WA Museum’s wedding dress selection currently on display, followed by a highlights tour of the Unveiled exhibition.

COST: Free event. Admission fees apply for exhibition.
BOOKINGS: Bookings are essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/wa-wedding-dresses-and-unveiled-highlights-tour

Ms Mavis Hamm Presents … ‘Glamourama!’

School Holidays Season
16 – 18 January
23 – 25 January
11.00am and 12.30pm daily

Sunday Afternoon Specials
20 and 27 January
10, 17 and 24 February
3 March
1.00pm and 2.30pm daily

Starring the irrepressible Monica Main as your host.

A vintage concept: Fashioning the past in bridal wear, 1830-2012

Dr Lydia Edwards
Lecturer, School of Communications & Arts, Edith Cowan University
6.00pm - 7.00pm, Wednesday 6 February

It's not only modern brides who have enjoyed 'vintage chic' on their big day. High fashion of the 19th century revived historical styles, adopted for both day and evening wear and for the most important dress of a woman's life: her bridal gown.

The dynamic 19th century was an era of innovation and inspiration … yet as technology steamed ahead, fashion designers were searching the historical archive for style ideas from a previous golden age. Women of the upper class sported 17th and 18th century embellishments on their gowns, from the polonaise skirt of the 1870s to the balloon sleeves of the 1830s and ‘90s. The pleasant nostalgic novelty of these designs was no less popular with brides, many of whom chose to dress themselves - and their bridesmaids - in gowns that evoked a glimpse of a former age. Where does this instinct for ‘retro’ revival in fashion come from, and why is a desire to evoke the past important for so many brides today? Join Lydia Edwards as she explores the background of historical inspiration in womens' wear, and the great impact that it continues to provide for bridal styles today.

COST: Free event.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/vintage-concept-fashioning-past-bridal-wear-1830-2012

Dressing Desires: girls, gowns and bridal fantasies

Dr Ann Schilo
Senior Lecturer, School of Design and Art, Curtin University
6.00pm - 7.00pm, Tuesday 19 February

The wedding gown is a site for a complex interplay between social mores, dreams and desires. While being a deeply personal choice for a bride, it is also marker of fashion trends, social status, family ties and expression of identity.

From ‘Bridezilla’ to ‘princess for a day’ … images of brides pervade popular culture from film and television programmes through to social media sites and bridal magazines. Such imagery is supported by a lucrative global and local industry devoted to the planning, preparation and marketing of goods associated with weddings. And of major significance is the all-important wedding gown.

Join Ann Schilo as she discusses how the concept of the wedding dress draws us into a web of social mores, dreams and desires: including contemporary fashion trends, social status, family ties and cultivated traditions of gender roles.

COST: Free event
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/dressing-desires-girls-gowns-and-bridal-fantasies

Samantha Wynne’s 2014 wedding gown collection

Samantha Wynne will be showcasing her beautiful gown collection at Hackett Hall Gallery, Western Australian Museum – Perth.

There will be 14 new gowns by Samantha Wynne as well as an additional 20 gowns by other top end designers on display for an afternoon runway show from 12.00pm - 1.00pm, Sunday 3 February 2013.

COST: Free event.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/special-event-samantha-wynne-s-2014-wedding-gown-collection

Wedding Dress: Caring for your treasured memories

Ulli Broeze-Hoernemann
Senior Conservator, Conservation, WA Museum
2.30pm - 3.30pm, Sunday 3 February

Join paper and textiles specialist Ulli Broeze-Hoernemann for a workshop on caring for, and conserving your wedding dress, accessories and other treasured items from your big day or your family chest of heirlooms. Bring your treasures along for some expert professional advice!

COST: Free event.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/wedding-dress-caring-your-treasured-memories

'More than ordinary beautiful': the glamour and magic of wedding dress

Edwina Ehrman
Curator of Textiles and Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
6.00pm, Tuesday 11 December 2012
State Library Theatre, State Library of Western Australia (entry via Francis St door)

Join exhibition curator Edwina Ehrman as she discusses the inside story of the 'Unveiled' exhibition. This talk will reveal the fascinating and moving stories behind key dresses in the exhibition. It will consider the bride, her family and descendants and the makers and designers who helped to make her 'more than ordinary beautiful'.

COST: Free event
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/more-ordinary-beautiful-glamour-and-magic-wedding-dress

Curator’s Floortalks

Curating 'Unveiled: 200 years of wedding glamour'
Edwina Ehrman
Curator of Textiles and Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1.00pm and 2.30pm, Saturday 8 December
1.00pm and 2.30pm, Sunday 9 December

Join exhibition curator Edwina Ehrman for a journey of bridal splendour through ‘Unveiled’.

COST: Free event. Admission fees apply for exhibition.
BOOKINGS: Bookings essential as numbers are limited, register online at: museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/curating-unveiled-200-years-wedding-glamour

Exhibition organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Illustration:
DITA VON TEESE WEARING
Vivienne Westwood

Violet wedding dress 2005
Vivienne Westwood Couture, London
Shot synthetic taffeta

Tricorn hat: Stephen Jones, London
Velvet, shot synthetic taffeta, glass beads, and dyed mink pompoms

Illustration by Jeff Waterman