Barwon Park

Saturday Sue and I drove down to Winchelsea past Geelong to Barwon Park Mansion where there was an exhibition of wedding gowns Love Desire and Riches The Fashion of Weddings.
Barwon Park was built by Thomas Austin and his wife Elizabeth, the latter who founded The Hospital for Incurables (TB) later to be, Yes you guessed it, The Austin Hospital in Heidelberg. She was inspired to open the Hospital when the only hospital she could find for her Cook who developed TB was the Goal Hospital.
Thomas is rather slanderously labeled to be the person who introduced rabbits to Australia, (He did but was not the only one!)
The mansion house, Barwon Park, at Winchelsea, was built of basalt in 1869. Architects Davidson and Henderson of Geelong designed the 42 room Italianate mansion. The square and utilitarian two storey building is enhanced by a distinctive cast iron verandah, elaborate entry hallway, stair case and high quality crafted interior.

The Exhibition was of dresses and designers including dresses from films television and literature. An appropriate venue (like Ripponlea, where the exhibition was last year) as both are popular wedding venues. The dress worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma, wedding dress worn by Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood in Sense and sensibility, Alex Perry's jewel encrusted bodice of Kyly Clarke's dress, and Kylie Minogue's dress in Kath and Kim

Gowns by Mariana Hardwick, Collette Dinnigan, and an installation of the couture workroom.

Detail on one gown.

The dress Kylie Minogue wore in Kath and Kim. developed from a dress bought at Savers.

Paper couture head dress by Christina Re

paper dress by Christina Re

Shibori detail of a Isogawa design

Ivory dress worn in 1957 

detail on the skirt

Collette Dinnigan and Swarovski crystal dresses