A celebration dress!

Today is Wednesday in Aotearoa New Zealand, half-way through the week and this week is extra special because it is the inaugural Fijian Language Week. Check out the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs facebook page for more info. To celebrate, I thought I'd wear one of my favourite dresses from my stash, a blue vintage number made in Fiji.

I bought this dress from the most amazing vintage store in Dunedin, Modern Miss. According to the tag it was made in Suva, Fiji, according to style, made probably in the 50s and according to legend, it is made from a silk sari. It's quite scary to wear something this old with such amazing provenance but I hope that the original wearer is happy to know it lives on. I know I should be wearing cute heels with it but it was cold and rainy and yuck this morning so I wanted to wear my boots.

Fran our super star librarian took these pictures. The books in the background are the Parliamentary Debates (hanzards) from the 40s & 50s. These books contain copies of speeches that have been made in Parliament over the years. Every little word, comment & rude remark the MPs mark in the house is documented in these books. They contain an amazing insight into the thoughts and business of the day. I grabbed the one off the shelf of today in 1944. (1944 because it was the year by Grandfather was in the War). The house didn't sit on October 9th 1944, it was a Monday, but on the 10th they discussed the NZ High Commissioner in London, developing land for ex-servicemen, they established a committee on Duties, Responsibilities and Remuneration of Members, they talked about Civil Aviation, the Christchurch Hospital Amendment Bill, the Impress Supply Bill and of most interest by me, they agreed to look at a petition supplied by Mrs. Hilda C. Bunt of Christchurch requesting an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of her son while an inmate in Sunnyside Mental Hospital. It looks as though he died a couple of weeks after he was sent home and on examination they found a piece of needle in his back.

I wore this dress to the Day of the Dead celebrations last year at the Mexican Embassy. I am slightly obsessed with Mexico and so thrilled that we have the Aztec exhibition at Te Papa at the moment. This picture was taken with one of the guests in the foyer at the Embassy. He really needs to eat more bread of the dead.