For hundreds of years, wedding gown fashion served as a display of the social status of the newlyweds and the craftsmanship of designers and world’s best couturiers.

But this often most exquisite piece of a woman’s wardrobe was not always made for one day only.

Wedding dresses, as the western tradition used to dictate, would also be worn on the first social engagement the bride would attend as a married woman.

The magic of weddings and wedding dress fashion is now the subject of ‘Love, Desire and Riches’, a National Trust exhibition currently on at Rippon Lea House and Gardens.

In the wonderful mansion of Rippon Lea Estate, one of Melbourne’s most beloved wedding venues, the most exquisite examples of wedding dresses – rarely seen, and sourced from around the world – are now on display in the exhibition that has taken years to organise and months to secure the freight and loans of historical pieces.

Through more than 50 wedding gowns, the exhibition’s collection spans over 200 years of fashion.

Elizabeth Anya-Petrivna, cultural collections curator of the National Trust, tells Neos Kosmos the exhibition is a blend of both modern pieces from leading
international and local artists, as well as the historic collection of wedding couture, courtesy of the National Trust, dating back to 18th century.

“We’ve both highlighted and showcased our collection of historic fashion, but also we’ve combined that with loans of film costumes as well as from private collections, dresses directly from important Australian designers and from royalty.

“Not many people know that the Trust has a phenomenal collection of locally made fashion, garments made in Melbourne and Victoria – it’s a very important collection for local history,” Anya-Petrivna says.

The germ of the exhibition started with a gown that was made in Paris and worn in a little church in East St Kilda. It was a Parisian gown made for the elite of Australia.

“I opened up the box, and there was this pearl encrusted, beaded velvet confection, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then I discovered we had two in the collection made by the same couturier. The other one was worn again in a small country church in Ararat.

“It was Madame Maugas who made the gowns and it appears that she made for European royalty. The world’s first major haute couturier, Charles Frederick Worth, was her competition. It was exciting to have these gowns – made by Madame Maugas for European royalty and worn in Australia – next to the
Princess Marie-Chantal gown.”

Pitched for fashion enthusiasts, collectors and hopeless romantics, the exhibition examines the intersection between film, historic fashion and the social narrative of weddings. It features items by Australia’s most prominent fashion designers Akira Isogawa and Collette Dinnigan, celebrity wedding gowns designed by Toni Maticevski for Jennifer Hawkins and by Alex Perry for Kyly Clarke, to film and television pieces worn by Kylie Minogue in Neighbours and
Kath & Kim.

Sitting aside the collection of Australia’s rarest wedding gowns is the intricate Valentino designed gown for Princess Marie-Chantal, the wife of Pavlos and daughter-in-law of Constantine II, who was King of Greece from 1964 to 1973.

The centrepiece of the exhibition, the pearl-encrusted ivory silk gown worn by the princess at her wedding to Pavlos in 1995 is valued at more than $300,000. The dress, which took 25 dressmakers, 12 types of lace and over four months to make, had a 4.5-metre lace train. The dress is the feature gown in the Valentino 50-year retrospective currently on display in London.

“It has all of those couture aspects – the very well finished theme, three layers of zippers – each creating the structure of the bodice, the craftsmanship of the embroidery … the more you look at it the more you see the level of detail, of skill. And then that beautiful Chantilly lace of the veil. It’s extraordinary,” Anya-Petrivna says passionately.

Also featured at the exhibition are the ’80s gown worn by Kylie Minogue’s Charlene at her wedding to Scott (Jason Donovan) on Neighbours and another wedding dress worn by Minogue during her appearance on Kath & Kim as Epponnee Rae.

The wedding work of Australian designers on display includes the voluminous dress designed by Greek Australian Alex Perry and worn by Kyly Clarke, wife of Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke.

“The Swarovski crystals on the dress are so heavy that it took three of us to dress the body form.”

With the exhibition featuring pieces from the 18th to 21st century, curator Anya-Petrivna says wedding dress fashion has changed through the years.

“One thing that seemed incredibly obvious to me was that historically, the wedding gown followed whatever was in fashion. So you basically wore a fashionable dress; it could be white or in different colours. You could also wear your dress again, and according to western tradition you did wear it to the first social engagement you were invited to as a married woman.

“This idea of getting something made for you that’s bespoke, that’s only for one day, is quite a modern idea. In the past, you wore what was fashionable.
Today you follow tradition.

“It’s still within a certain fashion, but there is a very distinct wedding fashion and it is very traditional – it’s about a long skirt, about a fitted bodice, you see that repeating over and over. And in some ways it doesn’t change as quickly as fashion changes,” Anya-Petrivna says.

The exhibition of intricate wedding designs is expected to attract all those interested in contemporary fashion and historic costume.

“I’d like to say this exhibition is for everyone, anyone who has been or will be married can gain inspiration from it – and even children seem to be really enjoying it.”

The exhibition ‘Love, Desire and Riches’ runs daily, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, from 1 July to 30 September at Rippon Lea House and Gardens, at 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick. To book tickets call 03 9656 9804 or visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/vic