She provided smart everyday choices, rather than the more special-occasion frocks of some of her contemporaries. Few of her garments remain, but photographs show a nod to the new relaxed American design aesthetic, rather than more stylised European creations.
By the time post-war access to overseas fashions opened up again, the idea of local designers was accepted. (To the extent that Vogue launched a New Zealand edition in 1957, which lasted a decade.) Sadly this pioneering time is now largely overlooked, with the wave of designers who emerged strongly from the 1980s often mistakenly thought of as our first.
"We know individual fashion designers now, but if you go back to the 40s and 50s you knew who the labels were, not who actually designed them," says Lloyd Jenkins. "That's the thing about fashion, it used to be for people in the know, whereas now it's all over the media."
Bobby Angus deserves to be celebrated as a precursor to the likes of Kate Sylvester and, in her own right, as a strong independent voice who helped shape the vernacular of New Zealand dress sense.
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