Detail, Cecil Beaton, Charles James’ Evening Dresses, 1948
LITERAL CLOTH: Elizabeth Patterson’s Masquerades.
Art & Text 1982
Good Reasons why short feminist wear high heels
The Herald, Nov 17, 1987
Commentary commissioned by (surprisingly) Andrew Bolt, the features editor. About Feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, high heels, Frank Moorhouse, Dr Scholls’ sandals and being short and powerful. Mentions Darwin and (unusually) not wearing thongs.
The Myth of the Dress
Catalogue Essay for ‘Dress-Ups’ an exhibition by Winsome Jobling at 24 HR ART, Darwin, 1997.
Discusses the difference between a frock, a gown and a dress and why it does matter. Refers to Charles James and the Modess ads and ‘Party Frock’ by Noel Streatfield.
Addressing the Dress
RealTime 24 April/ May 1998
Reviews Melbourne Fashion Festival(MFF) exhibitions: Jenny Bannister at Span Gallery; Hubert Givenchy’s LBD; David Jones; jewellery at Maker’s Mark; Susan Cohn at Anna Schwartz; Dorothy Herel and Pam Gaunt at Distelfink and the (all too brief) rebirth of Georges department store under the direction of Stephen Bennett of Country Road and Terence Conran.
Richard Avedon, The New Look of Dior - Place de la Concorde, 1947
The thrall of the Dress: Blame it on Dior-
Art Monthly no.118 April 1999
Reviews MFF exhibitions - foregrounded by Dior, Cecil Beaton, Charles James, Madonna and Courtney Love. Some exceptional dresses by Linda Jackson at Span Gallery; ‘Dress a Costumed Performance’ by dancer Shelley Lasica and couturier Martin Grant; ‘Material Evidence -100 headless women’ a collaboration between sculptor Julia Morrison and Martin Grant at the Adelaide Festival; Rosslynd Piggott and Martin Grant at the NGV (Note: Rosslyn Piggott’s correction); Kristin Headlam’s paintings of brides in ‘Public Park’ at Charles Nodrum Gallery and ‘Olympia’s Clothes’ photographs by Polixeni Papapetrou.
Remembrance of things past and waists lost - from Paris to Melbourne (Bendigo) -
Art Monthly no. 226 Dec 2009
Review of the V & A exhibition, ‘The Golden Age of Couture’, Bendigo Gallery.
Discusses The New Look, ‘Le Corolle’ Christian Dior, Roland Barthes, Lucien Lelong, Yves St Laurent, Cecil Beaton, John Pope Hennessy, Evita, American Vogue, Bettina Ballard, Nancy Mitford, Richard Avedon, the ‘Bar’ dress, Christobal Balenciaga, Norman Hartnell, Myer Melbourne, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Madame Chambrelet, Athol Shmith and Bambi, Georges and Mirka Mora and the top end of Collins Street, Irving Penn, Hall Ludlow, Le Louvre, Lillian Wightman, Janice Breen Burns, Alex Perry, Bruno Benini, Helmut Newton and Martin Grant.
The White Wedding Dress: from meringue to ivory
Art Monthly no. 242 2011
Preview exhibition, V & A ‘The History of the White Wedding Dress’ at Bendigo Art Gallery.
The invention of the tradition refracted through famous brides and my ordinary Australian family. Fashion, social history, feminist anthropology swathed in lace, veils, pearls and orange blossom.
Mentions - Elizabeth Gaskell, Eric Hobsbawm, Konrad Lorenz, Helen Garner, Ruth Maddison. Royal brides- Queen Elizabeth, Grace Kelly, Wallace Simpson and the Princesses Soraya, Margaret, Diana, Mary and Kate. Stars- Bridget Bardot, Bianca Jagger, Lulu, Portia & Ellen De Generes, Gwen Stefani. Designers- Molyneux, Dior, Mary Quant, Jean-Paul Gaulthier, John Galliano, Rose Chong, The Garb Shop and Mariana Hardwicke.
My bouquet. Photo: Ruth Maddison
My Wedding Photos
‘The Rituals of Weddings’ 1982
Presentation slide show and talk for ‘Women of Three Generations’ at Theatreworks.
The Brides- my grandmother Doll Spunner, my mother Gloria Spunner and myself - my photo by my sister, Kay Bishop.
‘When a Girl Marries’ 1979
A selection from a series created by photographer, Ruth Maddison of my wedding photographs, acquired by the NGA Canberra and published in - ‘The Critical Distance: work with photography/ politics/ writing’ edited by Virginia Coventry. Hale & Ironmonger. NSW. 1986.
Pell's Alb
A rebuttal to Frank Brennan in 'Eureka Street' on a particular point
Brennan wrote-
Witnesses familiar with liturgical vestments had been called who gave compelling evidence that it was impossible to produce an erect penis through a seamless alb. An alb is a long robe, worn under a heavier chasuble. It is secured and set in place by a cincture which is like a tightly drawn belt. An alb cannot be unbuttoned or unzipped, the only openings being small slits on the side to allow access to trouser pockets underneath. The complainant's initial claim to police was that Pell had parted his vestments, but an alb cannot be parted; it is like a seamless dress. Later the complainant said that Pell moved the vestments to the side. An alb secured with a cincture cannot be moved to the side. The police never inspected the vestments during their investigations, nor did the prosecution show that the vestments could be parted or moved to the side as the complainant had alleged. The proposition that the offences charged were committed immediately after Mass by a fully robed archbishop in the sacristy with an open door and in full view from the corridor seemed incredible to my mind.
I researched the Alb - and leaving aside its liturgical significance it quickly became apparent that there are two main types of Alb - the Traditional Alb (or Pull Over Alb) which is a seamless garment like a long nightdress put on over the head which used to have ties but now usually has a short zip down the back for ease of putting on.
OR the apparently much more common garment these days. They have been around since the 1950s
the Front Wrap or Wrap Around or Wrapover or Coat style Alb
which is not a seamless garment at all but rather fastens on one shoulder with either buttons or Velcro.
Clearly Frank Brennan and the defence witnesses were only referring to the Traditional Alb which would need to have "small slits" in the sides to access pockets etc.
Whereas the Front Wrap Alb I would suggest functions like a raincoat so to speak and is very easily “parted” or “moved aside” , it is commended in the literature and preferred for its convenience.
It certainly would make it easier to go to the toilet even if robed clergymen never do ...
The Chausuble is heavier, it has to be because it keeps the Alb in place, but the chasuble itself has no side seams and is not full length merely skimming the middle region and it pops over the head like a poncho.
The Cincture - Brennan likens it to "a tightly drawn belt”. It is more telling to think of it a dressing gown cord.
On a very, very detailed website - churchlinens.com/vestments
Elizabeth Margan, a seamstress of both devotion and extreme attention to detail, made an interesting observation about larger framed clergy when wearing the Front Wrap or Coat Alb what she calls the Cassock-Alb:
People who wear a larger jacket size are ill-advised to use a rope cincture- better to leave the slimming pleats to hang freely … slender people wear a cincture well … other folk look like a bag tied in the middle
There is also much discussion about fabric choices for Albs in warmer climates.
So might I suggest that the Archbishop may well have been wearing on a warm December Sunday morning a pure cotton Front Wrap Alb without a cincture, or one very loosely knotted and underneath perhaps simply a white Bonds singlet and a pair of pure cotton boxer shorts.
So to my mind no problem for an erect penis to escape with speed and ease and so long as the clergyman in question had his back to the open door of sacristy then no-one going by would be any the wiser.
I make these comments as a non Catholic, unfamiliar with the dress of priests, but as a woman with an interest in clothes and how they work and as the writer of play called 'Running Up A Dress’.