| Brief Description |
This uniform was made for Wanganui Hospital's first Matron. It comprises a jacket, a skirt, a petticoat, an apron and a cap.
The jacket is made of black taffeta with red taffeta lining. It has a centre front opening with no fastenings and a rounded white lace fabric collar. The front is made up of four panels, the centre front panels being a different shade of black. The front hem line is shaped from the waist to a point at the centre front. The jacket has full length sewn-in sleeves with deep tucks at elbows, three rows of pintucks, another deep tuck and a 95 mm band of lace (different from the collar) sewn onto the lower sleeve. The hem edge has a placket opening with a hook and eye and a narrow bound edge. The three-piece back has a hem shorter than the front. The bodice only is lined and boned with nine stays.
The very full black silk skirt has a back train, a woven silk tape waistband, a centre back placket opening with hooks and eyes, a 175 mm finely pleated silk hem band with a pinked top edge and machine sewn neatening at the hem edge.
The petticoat is made of black taffeta. It is full length, has a round neck, and is sleeveless with the edges folded in and neatened with zigzag machine stitching. It has a plain front bodice shape. A centre back opening has two horizontal darts on bodice and the back opens from neck to tailbone. A waist seam line supports a tightly gathered full skirt. The back hem is longer than at the front and has a slight train. There is a deep horizontal tuck, three rows of pin-tucking and another deep tuck at knee level.
The apron is made of very fine white linen. It has a narrow bib trimmed with lace and a pointed centre front top, a waistband extending to ties at back, tie ends pointed and edged with lace, a skirt in one piece, and a hem edge pointed at centre front and lace edged.
The cap is made of white cotton in a bonnet style with a double fabric frill on the front brim; a band of fabric is sewn over the sides and top of the cap behind a frill and extends under the chin as tie lengths.
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