In the hushed surrounds of the Central City Library is a time capsule of New Zealand fashion, from a fresh perspective. The just-opened exhibition That’s So Last Century: What We Wore 1950s-90s presents the local industry through the lens of the past –from local designers to manufacturing, home sewing to shopping (there’s a 1990 photo of Karangahape Road’s Rendells that will appeal to anyone of a certain age).

There are no physical garments on show; instead, the small but charming exhibition features an array of ephemera – glass display cases feature vintage copies of iconic defunct local fashion and ‘women’s interest’ magazines like Planet, The New Zealander, Cha Cha, Thursday and a 1962 Mirror, others hold a 1988 leaflet from Kia Kaha Clothing, vinyl from Ardijah, a ‘Buy N.Z. made’ cardboard tag, a 1998 Wella fashion report, clothing patterns and more. Individually items like these may seem unremarkable, but they record a moment in time and show a new side to the way we dressed, shopped and expressed ourselves.

There are plenty of photos and prints too: black and white photos from the Rykenberg collection adorn the back wall and present the unique style on the street of Auckland in the 60s and 70s, as do other photos from the library’s extensive heritage collection.

As well as a showcase of how local fashion has changed, the exhibition is a reminder of the treasures that our local libraries hold. It also raises questions about how we record our fashion history today, in a digital world – and how and if that will be preserved and remembered in the future (and, if anyone will care).

It runs until early July, with a few events happening alongside it – including ‘fashion walks’ with the hugely knowledgeable and inspiring Doris de Pont (register for the first one, here).

Zoë Colling, an associate curator of ephemera for Auckland Council Libraries who has worked at the library for 18 years, worked on That’s So Last Century with others in the Heritage Collections team at the Central City Library. She answered a few of my nerdy questions.

Fashion is not, traditionally, something that people might equate with libraries, though obviously they are an important resource for helping to record and preserve fashion history and provide a place for research – and there are lots of stylish librarians! But why did the library decide to focus on fashion with That’s So Last Century?

I was inspired after seeing a short documentary my colleagues Renée and Sue helped to create which was part of a film and podcast series exploring taonga held in our Auckland Council Libraries Heritage Collections. It was the Streetwear episode and it focussed on the Rykenberg photography collection, the 1990 project and our extensive magazine collection. 

When we were brainstorming exhibition ideas and the fashion one came up, my colleagues mentioned the recently digitised Noel Brotherston photographic collection and the Cambridge Clothing Company manuscript as options to look at. It was feeling like a viable option for an exhibition and one that we thought would have wide appeal – both from a nostalgic, social history viewpoint and for younger people interested in fashion who may not know about our collection and exhibition space.

When you were working on the exhibition, what stood out most to you in terms of how the material reflected how we dressed throughout the time period – the 50s to the 90s – and how that evolved?

Probably what stood out most to me was how the clothes we were wearing gradually became more casual over that 50 year period. This is a big generalisation of course. In many of the photographs we have chosen to display from the 50s and 60s, both in the studio photography and the more candid images of people at home or on their way to work, people are, overall, very well-groomed. In the photos we looked at, hats and gloves were still worn by some people in the late fifties. However, we also have photos of people in nightclubs or coffee lounges who were dressed in a completely different way. 

It was also interesting seeing how what every day people were wearing impacted designers in the latter part of the century. We have an issue of Cha Cha magazine from the 1980s on display which captures what different people were wearing in central Auckland and this was kind of the start of the time when designers were being inspired by what people were wearing out and about.

What about everything else that is important when it comes to the fashion industry – the way we shopped, for example. Did you discover anything interesting in your curation?

Yes, it’s a great part of the curatorial process – learning more about our history as you look at material and do a little bit of research into people and places connected to items in the collection. The New Zealand Fashion Museum website was a wonderful resource for us, especially when we were looking at how and where we shopped for clothes and looking at fashion trends and profiles of New Zealand fashion designers. 

One thing I found interesting was how two of the city’s largest and most successful department stores were founded by women. Milne & Choyce was established by sisters Mary Jane and Charlotte Milne and started as a drapery shop on Wyndham Street in 1867. Smith & Caughey’s was established in 1880 by Marianne Smith. Her husband William joined her soon after and later her brother Andrew Caughey too.

What were some of your favourite finds that are in the exhibition?

So many favourites! I think the Rykenberg street photography on the walls is a tip top favourite of mine. All the images were taken on Queen Street in Auckland in 1960. I love how these photos, which are over 60 years old, show Auckland as a culturally diverse city. 

John Rykenberg and his team of photographers at Rykenberg Photography took images of a wide range of people from various cultural and social backgrounds in restaurants, nightclubs, coffee lounges, on Auckland’s wharves and waterfront, or out shopping in town. The people being photographed would be handed a card inviting them to visit his shop later to buy a copy of the image. A handy thing as fewer people owned cameras then. There are over 800 of these Rykenberg street photographs on Kura Heritage Collections Online and about 15,000 from the Rykenberg collection as a whole. 

I also love the issue of New Zealand Fashion magazine, winter 1958, which we have on display. Every page is interesting to me – there are great advertisements on how to wear your El Jay coat in five different ways or an ad promoting the latest collection available at George Courts department store. 

The pages of the magazine we have on display focus on clothing for women working in corporate roles – fascinating to think about (and maybe look into further at some stage) who these high-powered businesswomen in Auckland were in 1958. 

On the contents page it is noted that unless otherwise stated, all garments illustrated or mentioned in the magazine are made in New Zealand. This connects with another theme of the exhibition: the boom in clothing manufacturing in the country in the 1950s and for a few decades afterwards.

Tell me about the materials that feature in the exhibition – not just photos, but magazines, catalogues, patterns, books. It’s a fascinating cross section because fashion exhibitions usually tend to heavily feature physical garments and photography.

Yes, it was fun looking through and featuring a range of material in the exhibition. Like other libraries, Auckland Council Libraries Heritage Collections has a lot of paper based materials: books, magazines, letters, diaries, maps, ephemera, archives and so on.

 We do not collect artefacts or objects like museums do, though of course there are a few exceptions. We do have material featured in the exhibition from our collection which is not paper based: like LP records, oral histories, and photographs. We wanted to include a range of material to promote and highlight how extensive our collection is and to create a visually interesting exhibit.

We love street photography and have featured it a lot on Ensemble – from looking at Rykenberg’s work to street style today. Why do you think it’s such an important form in showcasing changing dress codes?

I guess it is quite simple right? What people are wearing on the street is a little microcosm of what our city looks like. Of course, every city has its villages, so you need to look at what people are wearing on the streets in suburbs north, south, east and west – and probably more than one suburb at each compass point – to get a better spread of what people are wearing. 

For ‘That’s so last century’ we tried to look at different social scenes too – the people who were going to church were (usually) wearing different clothing to those people watching a band play – part of that is the occasion or event which is happening, but it can also be about identifying with a social group or scene.

Any time I am in Dunedin, I make sure to visit the library/Hocken Collection to flick through the Vogue New Zealand archives – a real treasure. What would be the oldest or most important or impactful fashion related item in the Auckland Library archive?

Ooh, tricky question! I would say if you were looking for local material – as we also have an extensive international rare books collection – the photograph collection, already mentioned, and the magazine collection. 

From the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly (our holdings start from the second issue, 15 December 1932 and are available to browse via microfilm) through to the wonderful 1960s and 1970s issues of Thursday and Eve and the legendary 1980s publications of Planet and Cha Cha. And thinking globally, to go a bit further back you could also have a browse online and maybe enquire further with one of our Rare Books Curators about British nineteenth century ball gowns.

Fashion is generally ‘about the new’ but there is a growing interest in and respect for how the past influences the now and the future – obviously there is the rise of vintage, but I think it’s true for things like production and craft too (I still think about these quotes that I shared in 2020 about fashion history). Why do you think it’s important to document such things – and to showcase them to allow us to look back, too?

History is vitally important for understanding the world we live in, who we are, and how and why things are the way they are. It’s a dangerous idea, in a way, to think that we are always moving forward, always progressing. 

I feel like you can get a sense of that in the exhibition – clothing manufacturers were a huge employer, for example. In 2024, there are still a few local fashion labels which are designed and made here, and which have sustainability as part of their ethos, like Papa Clothing. Fast fashion dominates though. 

I was reminded, in the Ngako Streetwear episode, when Doris de Pont was looking at some of the 1960 street photographs and pointing out the large bags people had with them, to carry their shopping, that plastic bags weren’t around then. Not too long later, they became ubiquitous and then we needed to have legislation to ban single-use shopping bags because they are hugely damaging for the environment.

What’s your interest in fashion and clothing – and how did that influence your work with this exhibition?

I was probably most interested in fashion as a teenager in the 90s when grunge ruled – petticoats and stockings with purposeful ladders in them. I loved looking at photos of what people were wearing on the street or at events in magazines. I remember seeing a photo of two women in their mid-twenties at the Big Day Out and their outfits – one had this gold embroidered wrap around skirt and a plain t-shirt – and just wishing I could be that cool one day. 

I was probably more drawn to the inventiveness of what everyday folk were wearing than the sometimes odd (in my mind) fashion spreads. 

I also have a strong memory of finding a vintage dress in the iconic ‘This is not a love shop’ second-hand store in Mount Eden at the time. The fabric of the dress had printed on it a pattern taken from one of Monet’s water lilies paintings but with the colours changed: highlighter green, dull grey and orange. It was bonkers and probably the best thing I’ve ever owned. 

These days I like to dress like a 14-year-old boy to try and let people know I’m queer and I like to dress for comfort or so I can run to the bus if need be. I also like how clothes can be a type of armour – whether that is dressing to identify with a particular group of people or in a more literal way. I wore a big, bulky Swanndri when I was grieving someone’s death and I felt like it protected me and kinda gave me a permanent hug.

‍I have a real soft spot for libraries – as community spaces, and my mum also works in one – and you’ve been with Auckland Libraries for 18 years. Why are our libraries so special? And what do you wish people knew about our local libraries? 

That’s lovely to know – that you have a soft spot for libraries. I think public libraries in general are super special places for lots of reasons. I love the traditional function of libraries as places where you can find books to read for pleasure or to learn something new – for free. That core thing is such a vital part of why public libraries are an important part of our communities. 

I wish more people knew there are now no overdue fines placed on books you borrow! And that there are 56 Auckland Council Libraries from Waiuku to Wellsford, offering a wide range of services, from free eAudiobooks, eBooks and eMagazines through to school holidays events and Makerspaces where you can book to use a 3D printer or sewing machine. 

In the Research and Heritage part of the library where I work, people can access a range of research services and get expert help with topics like whakapapa and family history, finding a primary resource for a school assignment, viewing a rare book in our Heritage Collections Reading Room, or get online or in-person assistance. People can also have a good time searching our digitised material on Kura Heritage Collections Online. I am a shameless zealot for public libraries. They’re great.

• That’s so last century: What we wore 1950s – 1990s is at the Heritage Gallery, Central City Library Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero (level 2) until July 13.