The plunder of plumage
Kiwi skins made into a muff and matching tippets and a peacock pelerine – it’s murderous millinery, vile and in vogue.
Te Papa’s Feathermania: Fashion to die for/Te mate huruhuru: He kahu matemate addresses the environmental cost of ‘‘plumiferious’’ fashion, the loss of millions of birds slaughtered for their feathers, and the consequential rise of conservation movements to protect birdlife.
This boutique exhibition features a range of accessories from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including muffs made from native bird skins and an array of feathered fans from the collections of Te Papa, the Otago Museum and Te Hikoi.
It coincides with the publication of Claire Regnault’s book Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1830 to 1910, published by Te Papa Press.
Regnault, the senior curator of New Zealand histories and cultures, said the mini exhibition gave an insight into how feathers played an integral part in women’s fashion internationally, and the toll such a trend took on bird populations. ‘‘Feathermania will display over 25 taonga, which are at once utterly beautiful and incredibly sad.’’
It may prompt visitors to think about their own consumer choices in an era when fashion continues to have a negative impact on the environment.
Regnault came across some correspondence by James Hector, Te Papa’s founding director who died in 1907, containing receipts and arrangements for five kiwi skins to be made into a muff and matching tippets.
‘‘The material walks the line between alluring and extremely repulsive,’’ Regnault said.
It was a perfect example of the ‘‘colonial drive,’’ where
everything was for the taking.
‘‘A magazine in the United States sent a spy to a London feather market, and they described hundreds of thousands of skins,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s a tension between the allure and the realisation of the havoc that this theory of
abundance led to for these populations.’’
It was ultimately a product of the dissociation that occurred when people were unaware of birds in their natural environment. ‘‘It decimated bird populations worldwide.’’
In the early 1900s a number of
conservative groups were started by women, who lobbied for legislative change.
‘‘They failed to influence the industry, so they began to appeal to society women with influence, for example, the Duchess of Portland and Queen Alexandra, to make feather wearing unfashionable, even vulgar.’’
The exhibition, of which the aesthetic was inspired by the clutter and excess of 19th century shop windows, aimed to inspire debate about the past and present practices in the fashion industry.
Regnault hoped it would make people stop and think about how they could vote with their dollar, and make better decisions for the environment.
‘‘Today, when you consider the environment, fashion is still one of the worst industries.’’
And whether the garments were to your taste or not, she said: ‘‘The fact is that all of those things are much more beautiful on a living bird.’’