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11 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2023 FIVE wedding dresses from the national textiles collection are being exhibited at the Inquisi- tor's Palace – National Museum of Ethnography, in Birgu. The gowns date back to the 19th and 20th century and one of them, worn first in 1979, was donned for a second time in 2001 by the original bride's daughter. The earliest exhibit is a silk lamè handmade wedding dress from the first half of the 19th century. A black blouse and skirt bought in 1917, a 1952 satin wedding dess sewn by the bride's mother and embroi- dered by the bride herself, and a 1965 wedding dress complete with veil, created by a dress- maker, are also on display. The fifth gown is a 1979 creation, complete with a hooded cape, designed and sewn by the bride and her mother. This dress was worn again by the bride's daughter on her own wedding day 22 years later. The exhibition is further en- hanced through two interviews – one with the son of the 1917 bride and another one with the bride whose dress was worn by herself and her daughter. Wedding dress styles and fab- rics varied considerably over the years, as attested by this ex- hibition. Telecommunications, the advent of photography, printing of fashion and needlec- raft books, magazines and pat- terns, as well as the manufac- ture and production of various fabrics and haberdashery items, all left their mark. Besides fash- ion trends, other factors that influenced bridal preferences included the bride's family's socio-economic, religious and financial status, or the bride's personal situation, such as be- ing orphaned or widowed. The exhibition, entitled The Maltese Bride: 19th – 20th cen- tury bridal wear in Malta, was inaugurated by Noel Zammit, Heritage Malta's Chief Exec- utive Officer, who was shown around by Kenneth Cassar, Sen- ior Curator for Ethnography, and Annamaria Gatt, Curator for Costumes and Textiles. Zammit remarked that the ex- hibits not only reveal a variety of fabrics, styles and needlecraft techniques but each wedding gown recounts a story. This is in perfect sync with Heritage Malta's mission as a story-teller and its crucial role in preserving these stories for posterity. The exhibition runs until July 2024. Exhibition of 19th and 20th century Maltese bridal wear launched at Inquisitor's Palace