Australian Dress Register

Richard Rouse (1774-1852) a free settler, began building Rouse Hill House in 1813 with his wife Elizabeth Adams (1772-1849)

Their son Edwin Rouse 1806-1862 married Hannah Hipkins 1819-1907 in 1834.

Their son Edwin Stephen 1849-1931 married Bessie Rouse 1843-1924 daughter of William and Elizabeth Buchanan in 1874.

Edwin Stephen and Bessie had two children:

Nina (1875-1968)

Kathleen (1878-1932)

The bodice is part of the extensive Rouse Hill House & Farm collection of garments and accessories, the well-worn and well-loved survivors of several generations of Rouse and Terry family clothes from about 1870 until the early 1990s - men's, women's, children's and even dolls' clothes. Rouse Hill House is one of the oldest continually occupied houses in Australia. the property being crammed with more than 20,000 objects expressing the realities, hopes and dreams of 6 generations of family life in rural New South Wales from early colonisation to the late 1900s.

Bessie Rouse (1843-1924) was mistress of Rouse Hill House for 50 years, from 1874 when she married Edwin Stephen Rouse (1849-1931). The Rouse's distant pastoral and agricultural interests supported the family and Bessie and Edwin Stephen's two daughters, Nina and Kathleen, were born in 1875 and 1878 into the leisurely confident world the late 19th century squattocracy.

This bodice, very suitable for house parties and seasons in town, is well documented in a photograph of Bessie Rouse taken c1887, and although altered in Bessie's time and since, the alterations were purely stylistic; its size remained unaltered so the bodice provides a set of measurements against which other garments in the collection can be compared for possible attribution to Bessie Rouse. Attribution to Bessie can be made with some confidence as she was petite, the smallest woman in the family, having an enviable tiny waist and apparently retaining her petite figure into late life.

The black bodice together with the portrait of Bessie Rouse wearing it, illustrates how style and fashion were important to her and reminds us that, although Rouse Hill was a considerable distance from Sydney, the Rouses mixed in Sydney social circles where fashion was not only followed with propriety for its own sake, but was also closely read as a symbol of one's status in colonial society. This garment fits into that context, an exclusive evening bodice perfectly suited to wearing to dinner and evening entertainments in Sydney (when the Rouses stayed with Bessie's parents at 'Lara' Darlinghurst) or on a special occasion in their dining room at Rouse Hill House.

The historic fashion context can also be read from the photograph, for the hairstyle and pearl choker Bessie chose to complement the bodice shows she admired the style set by Alexandra (1844-1925) Princess of Wales, who was almost her exact contemporary. Alexandra, fashion icon in the late 19th century as Diana, Princess of Wales was in the late 20th century, appears in many portraits at Rouse Hill House, on walls, in photo albums and in books and magazines. The portrait of Alexandra in the drawing room at Rouse Hill House illustrates that this admiration led Bessie to emulate her style. Compare the choker, hairstyle and shapely figure in the portraits of Bessie and Alexandra in this entry.

The family history context may explain the original design of the bodice being more severe than that photographed on Bessie. Her father William Buchanan died in 1885, so perhaps the bodice might originally have been designed for mourning considering it had a high buttoned neck, later tucked under (and still evident) when it was re-styled to make the fashionable evening bodice that Bessie wears in the photograph. As part of the re-styling the sleeves were replaced with this lace-inset pair, perhaps inferring the original sleeves were also more austere.

Later, in an unfinished attempt at another alteration, or else a need to use the trims elsewhere, the shoulder tabs, beading and bodice lace were removed, with the latter being only partially replaced with the lesser quality lace seen on the bodice today. These changes could have been made either by Bessie herself, or else by her descendants in a context of using discarded garments kept especially for them to play dress-ups and stage amateur theatrics.

Information has been gathered through close examination of the garments, research into the extensive Rouse Hill House & Farm collection and from family members.

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Fine double piping around the hem gives the lower edge a crisp line.

Machine lace trims the centre front neck, centre sleeve and cuff.

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Black silk satin bodice

Discoloured black cotton lining

Black machine made cotton lace

The bodice is machine seamed with hand finishing by a professional seamstress in Madame Beattie's workroom. The work is of good quality and has stood the test of wear.

Turquoise silk label : M.BEATTIE, ROBES & NOUVEAUTES, SYDNEY.

The original bodice had a high round neck closing with five additional buttons, now removed. The back seam has been opened to allow the neck to be folded down into a lower neckline. The sleeves probably replace an original plainer pair; beading and tab later removed.

The silk is cut on the straight grain.

12 faceted black glass buttons with metal shank are attached to a backing of fine black ribbon on the inside. This probably serves to protect the outer silk and may explain why the buttons that had been removed made so few markings on the fabric.

The bodice is stiffened with three whalebones in each side of the front.

This is a special evening bodice.

A practical footnote to the Alexandra inspired curled fringe hairstyle worn by Bessie Rouse in the photograph is the existence of an electroplated curling tong in the collection that may have helped Bessie achieve it. The diameter of the rod is small, ideal for creating a short tight curl, and the tong's present condition suggests is was used often - as the steel still corrodes aggressively - a condition caused by the metal having been frequently heated. As the tong was heated over a spirit lamp, judging the perfect temperature to curl the hair without burning it was difficult, so women would play safe by wrapping each piece of hair in a strip of paper to avoid the horrors of singeing it.

Two receipts in the collection appear to refer to this garment (see section 14)

Enlarge here with receipt

The underarm fabric has minor perspiration stains.

The silk satin on the bodice is deteriorating especially on the right side, suggesting chafing caused by routine arm activity. However the sleeve shows no sign of wear in a corresponding position, suggesting that new sleeves were added some time after manufacture, but before the photograph was taken.

Two images taken with a digital microscope indicate that the sleeve is less worn than the bodice which may confirm that the sleeve was a later addition.

The bodice was restyled from an original high neck design to the lace trimmed evening bodice as worn by Bessie Rouse in the photograph:

1. The neckline was lowered, evidence being the original higher neck edges are neatly tucked under and stitched down, with the necessary buttons removed. Lace was applied to edge the new neckline.

2. The earlier sleeves were replaced with this lace-inset pair, evidence being the original piping from the armhole left inside the armhole.

3. The sleeve satin shows slightly less wear (in macro shot) than that of the very worn bodice, suggesting the sleeve was a later addition, after the bodice had been worn for some time. The sleeve should also show wear in the same place as the bodice had it been attached from the start.

4. The photo of Bessie in the bodice shows a lace trim at the neck, beading on the sleeve and a beaded tab at the top of the sleeve. These have been removed in the existing garment, the stitching still evident.

The bodice has been altered probably three times.