DIRTY LAUNDRY: THE HISTORY OF GARMENT CARE
SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY
2:00PM – 3:30PM
TALK
From Ancient Rome to the present day, domestic laundering practices have evolved along with societal attitudes around hygiene as well as practical considerations such as access to water. In prehistoric times, people lived near streams, while in the Renaissance, monasteries might have piped water in but the poor still had to hand-carry their water home from wells and rivers. Developments in science also occurred alongside certain myths. For example, in the Middle Ages, the dark was believed to carry diseases and a layer of dirt was believed to protect one from illness. Conversely, in the nineteenth century household manuals carried specific recipes for the removals of oil stains on silk cloth and read like sorcerer’s spell books. Join fashion curator, writer, and speaker Dr Paola Di Trocchio to discover the evolution of garment care and laundering from Ancient Rome to the present day.
Your ticket includes a lecture by special guest Dr Paola di Trocchio, and an afternoon tea of petit fours and tea or Market Lane coffee, served on our Wedgwood fine bone china, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.
The Johnston Collection, 192 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne
Tickets $55
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All-ages event
Not serving alcohol -
Accessible for wheelchair users
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Dr Paola Di Trocchio is a leading fashion curator, writer, and speaker. In her twenty-year career at the National Gallery of Victoria, she curated and co-curated twenty-two fashion and textiles exhibitions including Edward Steichen and Art Deco Fashion, The Krystyna Campbell-Pretty Fashion Gift, 200 Years of Australian Fashion, Guo Pei among others. She was co-ordinating co-curator for The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk. She is currently working freelance on various projects.
The Johnston Collection (TJC) is a house museum with a superb collection of English Georgian, Regency, and Louis XV fine and decorative arts, and objet d’art which was a gift from William Robert Johnston (1911-1986) to the people of Victoria. Johnston was a prominent Melbourne-born antique dealer, real estate investor and collector.
The Collection is displayed in a constantly changing domestic setting, in his former residence, Fairhall, an historic East Melbourne townhouse. -
For more information, please contact the event organiser:
The Johnston Collection
hello@johnstoncollection.org