NSW History Week 2012 runs 8-16 September and this year’s theme is 'Threads’.

Long before the fashionistas of today decided 'the look’, dress was an important element of human expression. From status to style, culture to professional identity, clothes have defined us. History Week 2012 will explore the history of threads and unpick the meaning behind the wardrobes of the past.
(From the History Council of NSW website.)

The ASO homepage features Sydney fashions from decades past, including a 1920s newsreel, 1940s cinema advertisement and 1970s TV series (the iconic Number 96).

The 1991 feature film Dead to the World, set in Sydney’s inner-west, features some striking late ’80s fashions. Playing Beatie Bow (1985) also has a touch of the ’80s, though it is mostly set in 1870s Sydney.

Fashionista was SBS’s 'cult fashion newsflash’, hosted by Sydney fashionista and TV presenter Lee Lin Chin (pictured above left). Lin Chin interviewed Australian designers and visited a range of fashion houses, many in Sydney, over two series in the early 2000s.

See all titles on ASO tagged fashion.

Learn more about NSW History Week and this year’s program of events at the History Council of NSW website.