1925
No. 2.
Women’s Fashions.
The dresses then worn by the women were very different to those of the present day. A woman then never wore a hat; it was always a bonnet, which covered the face and back of the neck. The dress consisted of a tight-fitting jacket and a print dress with a large crinoline, the sides of which had to be bent together to enable the wearer to get through the door. They also wore strong lace-up boots – no high-heeled shoes then.
THE MEN’S DRESS.
The men wore a cabbage tree or a tall Yankee hat with a very wide brim, a blue shirt with a side pocket and a large collar, and moleskin trousers with a saddle-strap for a belt, though some of the “flash” ones wore a red silk sash wrapped two or three times around their waists with the tassels hanging down on each side. No sox were worn, a rag wrapped around the feet sufficing. The boots were of the “blucher” type generally called “Prince Alberts”. A large black scarf around the neck completed the costume. The moleskin trousers were white and very strong, and would last over 12 months. No top coats were used then, and in wet weather they had for a coat what was called a poncho or a rug – one side imitation skins and the other black water-proof. It had a hole in the centre for the head to pass through, and was also used at night as a blanket.
Early Reminiscences of the Wimmera and Mallee, (1925), Robert H. Stainthorpe and
William Candy, Lowden Publishing Co., Donvale, Victoria, 2009