Costumes and accessories tell the social history of place, giving insight into the frugality, ingenuity and imagination used to produce hand sewn garments in pioneering days. The Society has a wonderful array of costumes, textiles and accessories from yesteryear. Many date from the 19th Century, when ladies never showed enough skin to get sunburned, right through to more modern days. The collection includes dresses, hats, hat boxes, shoes, boots, lace, hand made embroidered stockings, fans, shawls, wedding dresses, undergarments and military uniforms.
Some garments are displayed in a temperature controlled museum space within the Guildford courthouse building, currently occupied by the Swan Valley Visitor Centre. An exhibition called “The Guildford to Bassendean swim” shows vintage swimwear and newspaper clippings of the event. Another exhibition close by is called “Walking through history: 100 years of wedding dresses”. Here you can see wedding dresses from the 1860’s through to the 1970’s.
Entry to these exhibitions is FREE. The Swan Valley Visitors Centre is open each day between 9AM and 4PM.
