Praise be – it’s the new toga

When six authentic Gloriavale dresses recently went up for sale on Trade Me and Facebook, the drab cult uniforms piqued the interest of many potential buyers. Owned by former members of the Gloriavale community, the frumpish frocks ranged from $30-$140 with nearly 150 punters adding a size 10 to their watchlists.

From the response one can deduce that it isn’t just museum curators, social historians and collectors interested in the garments. The anklelength blue dresses with their prim necklines and white piping are high-recognition garments, as seen on the many reality TV series that have been made about the Gloriavale community.

When they are barely women, Gloriavale females are married off and, impregnated at a young age, are set on a path of autopilot motherhood and sheer drudgery as they produce large broods of children. Even if they don’t love or are attracted to their chosen spouses, they are herded into arranged unions with the express purpose of pushing out babies, till the last egg drops.

To many modern onlookers this old-fashioned existence shrieks non-existence. The courtships for these walled-up unions are conducted with the females clad in the chaste blue dress uniform of the community. These dresses are now so infamous (in New Zealand) they would have instant recognition when worn to a fancy dress party. If I was a toga, I would be seriously worried that my long-reigning, top-of-the-pops party days were numbered, and that the blue dress was about to be the new kid on the ‘‘G’Vale’’ student party block.

However, before we get dressed up to go to the frivolous party, let us consider the possibility that this Gloriavale girl garb’s got legs, serious political ones, as it could become the uniform of the oppressed and the socially concerned.

One only has to look at the long red robes and white-winged bonnets featured in the hugely successful TV series The Handmaid’s Tale to see how quickly those costumes have been appropriated by the protest movement.

American women, and women worldwide concerned about the erosion of their rights, particularly their reproduction rights, have donned the red robe and white bonnet and appeared at protests where they have stood together in eerie and effective silence.

Our Government is looking to overhaul the current abortion law, which is more than 40 years old. Justice Minister Andrew Little wants to explore whether the law is fit for the 21st century. He has given the Law Commission eight months to conduct a review and suggested it speak to health professionals and seek public feedback on any proposed changes. The outcome of that review will, no doubt, provoke strong responses from both sides of the abortion debate.

At any future protests, Pro-Choicers looking for enlightened law reform may wear the red robe of The Handmaid’s Tale to illustrate their point. Perhaps we might even see the first appearance of the Made in New Zealand G’Vale Blue Dress joining their ranks? After all, if there’s any cultural appropriation to be made, then let it be homegrown.

Meanwhile, any budding clothing entrepreneur, watching the Gloriavale dress take on an ironic second sartorial life on Trade Me and Facebook, may be furiously swotting up on how to quickly trademark a cult uniform?

Don’t put it past the astute Gloriavale businessmen, with assets worth approximately $36.6 million, to branch out into the rag trade – tax exempt, of course, due to their religious status. Surreptitiously bringing the female Gloriavale uniform into disrepute would be a small price to pay for swelling the community coffers.