Fashion
An icon wearing an icon: Sydney Opera House Barbie
Stepping away from her signature pink, Barbie honours the Sydney Opera House with more subtle tones in her gown, that reflect the Opera House and its Harbourside location
Keeping cool
Shading the face, fanning a fire into a blaze or cooling food, shooing away insects, conveying social status, even passing discreet romantic messages - the use of the fan goes far beyond the creation of a breeze
Baubles, brooches & beads
We wear jewellery as articles of dress and fashion and for sentimental reasons – as tokens of love, as symbols of mourning, as souvenirs of travel
Bicornes, bonnets & boaters
There’s a variety of headwear across our collections ranging in date from early to late nineteenth century
Sydney’s first Zoot Suiter
It’s amazing the characters you come across when researching the NSW Police Forensic Archive
Ikon Studio Archive
The Ikon Studio archive of candid street photography is a documentation of everyday life on one busy Sydney city street recorded over several days in 1950
Hirsute heritage and facial fashions
We have combed our collections to uncover a wealth of 19th and early 20th century inspiration for those interested in the history of facial hair
Underworld
Flappers
The flapper was an alluring vision of sophistication and freedom for young women globally
Underworld
The Roaring Twenties
The 1920s heralded the brave new world that emerged from the devastation of World War I