Rosemary Creed at the Corowa Art Space exhibition with her mother Theodosia’s wedding outfit from 1937.
The name John Mildred Sanger is synonymous with Corowa and the namesake for the town’s main street.
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But it’s the Sanger women who inspired the latest exhibition at Corowa Art Space this month.
The rare collection of four generations of their fashions spans the 1890s through to the 1970s.
John Sanger’s great-granddaughter Rosemary and two of her daughters, Wendy Sheed and Sue Harper, visited the exhibition on Saturday and recalled a lifetime love of fashion.
Rosemary Creed with her daughters, Sue and Wendy.
Rosemary inherited the collection from her mother’s estate, which included her grandmother Charlotte’s maternity dresses from 1900 and 1902, her aunt Jean’s clothes from the 1920s and 1930s, and her mother, Theodosia’s complete wedding outfit, which she wore in 1937, just three years before she died.
Rosemary was just 15 months old when her mother died.
She eventually inherited the Sanger land, and the airtight trunk full of clothes, which she has donated to Federation Museum.
The exhibition spans four generations of fashions from the women of the Sanger family.
On Saturday, daughter’s Wendy and Sue recalled modelling the clothes at fundraising fashion parades at McCaughey Memorial Institute near Jerilderie.
“Mum had a little boutique shop in Jerilderie in the 1970s,” Wendy said.
“She was always up and down the road buying fashion, with her clients in mind.
“She loved fashion; we were dressed immaculately and Mum was always complimented on the way she dressed, and how she held herself.”
At 86 and immaculately made up, Rosemary still has an eye for style and takes pride in her appearance.
She was delighted to see the generations of Sanger fashions on display for everyone to see.
A love of fashion is a consistent theme throughout the generations of Sanger women.
•The exhibition is presented by Corowa and District Historical Society and is open until February 28, Tuesday to Friday from 9.30am – 4.30pm and on Saturdays from 10am – 2.00pm.
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