Feathers sourced from birds across the globe – including Aotearoa New Zealand – formed an integral part of a fashionable woman’s wardrobe throughout the second half of the nineteenth century.

At the height of ‘feathermania’ in the late nineteenth century, an international fashion commentator even went as far as commenting that ‘A well dressed woman nowadays is as fluffy as a downy bird fresh from the nest’.

Curated to coincide with Claire Regnault’s forthcoming book Dressed: Fashionable Women’s Dress 1840 to 1910 (Te Papa Press), Feathermania features feather-adorned mantles, fans, muffs, and matching collars and even jewellery from the national collection.