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00:30This time, Backroads is going to a wedding as I meet the dressmakers of country New South
00:47Wales.
00:48We do have a bit of style about us, us country girls.
00:51It's the rich black soil of the Moree Plains that makes it so attractive for growing crops.
01:17But I'm delving into another world, that of the skilled dressmaker.
01:24From weddings.
01:26It's very beautiful.
01:27Oh, I love it.
01:29I love it.
01:30To dresses designed to bring about change.
01:32I want to be able to widen their scope and give them that opportunity.
01:38Not Moree, not Sydney.
01:40The world's big enough.
01:42Go and fulfil your dreams.
01:43I'm here to see how the art of dressmaking can inspire confidence, mark rites of passage
01:51and provide a connection for country women on farms, where life can often be isolating.
01:58This is where we come and talk.
02:00It's fun too, but there's some days where people are just having a tough time.
02:03It's been a real saving grace for lots of people, I think.
02:05So, for those out there who might think that a good dress can't actually change anything,
02:12watch and learn.
02:21Over the years, I've heard from friends on the Bush Telegraph
02:24about someone you would not expect to find out here on these dusty back roads.
02:29And that's a wedding dressmaker.
02:32And I'm about to meet her.
02:34I'm half an hour out of the town of Moree.
02:37And I'm meeting Melinda O'Donoghue, who lives in a house called Kiramingley.
02:46Hello, Heather.
02:46Welcome.
02:47Hello, Melinda.
02:48Welcome, welcome.
02:49What a lovely old place you've got.
02:51Thank you, Heather.
02:52We love it.
02:53It's a very old house, but we do love it.
02:55It's part 1860s and part 10th century.
02:58But you have to love an old house to live in an old house.
03:00You do.
03:00Did you renovate?
03:01We do.
03:01We have.
03:02We have.
03:02Over a period of three years.
03:03Oh, nice job.
03:04Melinda has lived here with her husband, Des, and their two kids for 24 years.
03:10And during that time, she's been very busy.
03:13Heather, this is my fitting studio.
03:15Oh, what a gorgeous room.
03:18It is.
03:18It is very pretty.
03:19It's beautiful.
03:21These are just gorgeous.
03:23There's 75 metres of tulle in that dress, which is quite amazing, which you wouldn't think
03:27that at all.
03:27It's very lovely.
03:28And this one.
03:29Very beautiful.
03:29That looks so hard to make.
03:31Very beautiful, fine, dainty lace.
03:34Yes.
03:34On a very fine, dainty girl.
03:36Clearly.
03:37Very.
03:37And how many dresses have you made?
03:39Oh, over the last 25 years, probably over 300 dresses.
03:43No.
03:43A lot.
03:44A lot.
03:45How do you do it?
03:46Oh, lots of hours.
03:48Lots of hours sewing.
03:49Classically trained dressmaker Melinda is known as a designer and maker of some of the finest
03:57couture or made-to-measure wedding dresses in Australia.
04:01She's had clients fly in from America and the UK and is so in demand, she now confines her
04:10work to local country girls.
04:13It's just a funny thing.
04:14I've always wanted to sew.
04:15My mother sewed beautifully and I started sewing at school and I used to, you know, make clothes
04:22in the 80s, very interesting clothes.
04:24And then sewed after I left school and I went to the Canberra Institute of Technology and
04:28became a commercial fashion designer.
04:30But then I fell in love with Desmond and he decided that he wanted to move to Balatta,
04:35which is just down the road.
04:36And I spent a month making my wedding dress and my bridesmaids dresses and my mother's
04:42dress and two flower girl dresses.
04:43And we got married and it was a lovely, exciting time.
04:47And then people started coming to see me and started dressmaking and, yeah, I've been
04:52doing it ever since.
04:54I used to do more general sewing, but when I was at college, I did work experience with
05:09Alex Perry and just loved that world.
05:11And I loved weddings and just decided that, no, this is what I want to do.
05:15So there's just something magical about a bride and a wedding day.
05:19And it's a great privilege to be part of a family's most important day.
05:22And that's never lost on me.
05:23And it's so lovely to see them excited.
05:26It's a really nice thing.
05:28Okay, Eliza.
05:29Her latest bride, Eliza Coles, is getting married in a month and has arrived after driving
05:35150 kilometres for a fitting.
05:38So it looks very beautiful.
05:41Do you like it?
05:42Oh, I love it.
05:43Perfect?
05:43I love it.
05:44Good.
05:44You have everything right.
05:46Exciting.
05:48And if you like it in calico, you're going to love it in silk mercado.
05:51I can't wait.
05:51I can't wait to try it on.
05:53Yeah.
05:53And just behind her is Melinda's husband, Des, a truck driver who's normally found behind
06:01the wheel of his beloved vintage W model Kenworth truck.
06:10He plays an integral part in the whole operation.
06:13She does all the other hard stuff and I do the easy stuff.
06:22This doesn't look very easy to me.
06:23A little bit of button making, which is not necessarily button making per se.
06:28It's covering buttons.
06:30So we take one half of the die.
06:32We take the part that looks like a car wheel cap.
06:35We push that in there with a pencil.
06:36Then we grab the sew-on piece, put the two together.
06:41Yep.
06:42Then you stick it in the thing and then it just comes out like that, covered in the same
06:49material as the dress.
06:50The husband's cursed the bride on the night of the wedding because they've got to undo
06:54all those buttons to get them out of the dress.
06:57But it's a good safety factor.
07:00Quite often zippers will fail.
07:02Buttons don't.
07:03Do you enjoy doing it now?
07:05Not really.
07:06Be honest.
07:07It takes a lot of time and Melinda very often, most nights, would work until 11 or 12 at
07:14night and that's pretty much seven days a week.
07:17So these sorts of jobs have got to be done.
07:20You like driving trucks better.
07:22I do.
07:23Much better.
07:24But anyway, it gives you time to think about life and the universe while you're doing it.
07:28I bet.
07:28And what else have you learned about the process over the years?
07:32Girls are tricky, aren't they?
07:34Bridesmaids are the worst.
07:37They're always interested in themselves.
07:38They seem to be more important than brides, they think.
07:42There are some girls who shouldn't get married.
07:44Tell it like it is.
07:45Are you proud of what she does?
07:47Oh, very, yeah.
07:48I mean, you've got to go a lot of hundreds of kilometres in every direction to find somebody
07:53else that can do it.
07:54It's not off the hook.
07:56It's made for everybody and everybody is very different and quite crooked and all other
08:01shapes and sizes.
08:02So, yeah, it's good.
08:05In the bridal studio, bride-to-be Eliza Coles is nearing the end of her fitting and she's
08:11invited me in for a sneak peek.
08:13How gorgeous do you look, Eliza?
08:15Very beautiful.
08:16So, we've got a few little fitting things that we've got to do just to make it perfect.
08:19So, this is the final calico.
08:21So, I then pull this apart and use it as the pattern on the silk micado.
08:25So, what do you think?
08:27I'm very happy with it.
08:28It's beautiful.
08:29As you should be.
08:31Oh, gorgeous.
08:31You've done such a glowing.
08:32And it's not even the real thing yet.
08:34Like, imagine the finished product.
08:36I know.
08:36Well, this is everything that I wanted and I'd be pretty happy to wear this, actually.
08:42And Eliza, I'm just looking.
08:44You could have pockets if you would like pockets.
08:47Oh, I love pockets.
08:48If that's doable.
08:49I can put pockets in that little seam there.
08:51What are you going to put in pockets?
08:52Oh, my hands.
08:54Brides love pockets.
08:55They all love pockets.
08:56Do they?
08:57It's a really big thing.
08:59I'm borrowing my mum's ring to wear on my other hand.
09:02That's the old, borrowed, old blue.
09:05And you've got blue.
09:06Yeah, where's the blue?
09:07You've got blue.
09:07Oh, look at the ring.
09:10That's divine.
09:12Yeah.
09:13Melinda will be fitting the dress right up to the moment Eliza walks down the aisle.
09:22Which means she's been to hundreds of weddings over the years.
09:26Getting to know a large part of the community.
09:30Especially in Maury itself.
09:32The art gallery in Maury even hosted a 20-year retrospective, telling the stories of Melinda's
09:40bridal dresses, including her own wedding dress.
09:44It was so popular, Melinda ended up giving tours.
09:48Jemima's dress was very dainty and pretty.
09:51It has the goddess in the front, so her skirt's quite a bit fuller than the rest of the skirts,
09:56and all hand-beaded lace on her tulle.
09:59In all, nearly 3,000 people came.
10:03An attendance on a par with the visiting Archibald prize.
10:06And at the local town and country club on a Friday night, it doesn't take long to bump
10:20into a bride, or mother of the bride, with stories that show what Melinda makes is so much more
10:26than just a dress.
10:29She's done two brides and the bridesmaids, a total of 10 bridesmaids.
10:34And then I wore my jacket tonight from one.
10:36Oh, she made this too?
10:37She made this, yes.
10:38Oh, it's gorgeous.
10:40I know we're being very casual, but I thought it needs an earring.
10:43So Melinda made my wedding dress out of my grandmother's wedding dress, pulled it all
10:51apart, and then used the bottom end of the dress and made it a beautiful wedding dress.
10:56It meant so much to my family.
10:57My grandmother passed away 10 years ago, so it was really special to have that part of
11:02her, that part of the wedding.
11:03I was actually like five months postpartum with my first son, and I just didn't feel
11:11that comfortable in my body.
11:12I was sort of in this weird limbo state, and she just made me feel so beautiful on my wedding
11:17day and just worked with every curve that I didn't really necessarily like, and I absolutely
11:22loved the dress on the day.
11:25It's incredible to hear how one woman can have such an impact on so many people's special
11:31days.
11:33And it's proof that Moree understands the confidence and joy that a great dress can
11:40create.
11:47It's the next morning, and as the sun rises over Moree, I've come to see where Melinda
11:53shops, somewhere that's been a source of support to dressmakers since 1976, Sylvia's Fabrics.
12:03And what are your best sellers here?
12:12Well, linen, believe it or not, the most expensive is the best seller really.
12:17That's pure linen.
12:19Oh!
12:20That feels lovely.
12:21Broderon glaze, you see the beautiful pattern in there?
12:23Oh yes.
12:24Oh yes.
12:25That is very popular in ready-mades as well.
12:27You don't see them like this too often, harking back to a time when people made their own
12:34clothes.
13:05And they're only 1450 or so a metre to make a dress.
13:10Melinda is one of Sylvia's best customers and couldn't live without this shop.
13:14It's where she's sourced material for nearly every dress she's made.
13:20This is her history.
13:21This is Melinda's history?
13:23This is history.
13:24It's all in those books?
13:25Yes.
13:26And this is from 2011.
13:27There's 100 garments in that book.
13:31This one goes from the 2016 to 4th of the 5th, 22, there's 189 in that book.
13:41And this one's the latest one you see, there's 50 in that, that's 359.
13:49Lots may have changed in Moree since Sylvia first took over the shop, but Sylvia is still
13:54serving those inspired by another era, when there was no other option out here but to
14:00make your own.
14:05And were you married here in Moree?
14:07Yep.
14:08Married in Moree 63 years ago.
14:10There would have been no Melinda then who made your wedding dress.
14:13I did.
14:14You made it?
14:15I was 23 on a treadle machine and four sisters had the four bridesmaids' dresses, did mums
14:21and my mother-in-laws.
14:22You made everybody's?
14:23Mm-hmm.
14:24On a treadle.
14:25You know, the old treadle machine.
14:26What a dynamo.
14:29Sylvia has been providing for the town's dressmakers and clothes menders for nearly five decades,
14:36including another local designer, whose dresses now grace the catwalks of the world.
14:42The clothes label, Bule Miri, features dress designs that tell ancient dreaming stories.
15:03But it all began on this street in Moree, where dress designer Gomoroi woman, Colleen Ty Johnson,
15:10grew up.
15:11I remember my grandmother.
15:14She measured me to make a dress for me because we had nothing and that's where I used to
15:19watch her a lot on the old singer sewing machine and just sewing and dressing people in the
15:26community.
15:27It was here in 2002 that Colleen came up with an idea for a program to try and use her knowledge
15:35of fashion and dresses to empower the next generation of young Aboriginal women.
15:41Well, the program was actually giving them that confidence to be able to come out in the
15:46community and, you know, to dress up because the attire around that time was just shorts
15:53and tracksuits and t-shirts and your hair pulled back straight.
15:57So talking about how to look after your hair, look after your skin and everything that would
16:04give you confidence.
16:07Supported by all the local businesses, it was the start of a free course that ran annually
16:13for three years out of a local community centre.
16:16And at the end of each course, they had a fashion show.
16:20So what kind of clothing were they wearing?
16:23Well, they were all gowns or formal wear and it was about recognising women in the community
16:29that hadn't been recognised before.
16:31So the first girl that came out, they just stood and applauded, stand and ovation because
16:37she walked with pride, she walked with passion.
16:41The shows were a major hit and some of the dresses that Colleen had designed got noticed.
16:46I got an invitation from Indigenous Runway Project in Melbourne.
16:52So I went down there and showcased what I had and from there, things changed.
16:59Bule Miri, which means Black Star in the local Gamilaroi language, became the name of the label.
17:06And Colleen started taking students as models and crew to New York and beyond.
17:12I started getting invitations to shows and runways in different countries.
17:18I got invited to Plitz New York City Fashion Week.
17:22I was the first international Indigenous designer to present at New York City Fashion Week.
17:29And that was, yeah, that was an eye-opener.
17:32And I'm here in New York at the flying store, Blue Runway.
17:37I remember I was on the podium and this reporter asked me what is so unique about Bule Miri,
17:46which is my label.
17:47I said Bule Miri is about telling stories of the oldest living people in the world.
17:52And he didn't have any more questions to ask me.
17:56Colleen continues to take young Aboriginal people to the international stage, building self-esteem
18:03and providing fashion industry training.
18:09I want to be able to widen their scope and give them that opportunity.
18:14Not Maureen, not Sydney.
18:16You know, the world's big enough.
18:18Go and fulfil your dreams.
18:20I like to think that Colleen, Sylvia and Melinda have still got that magic,
18:30that belief in the power of making an amazing dress,
18:34empowering femininity in country places like Maureen,
18:39where life often revolves around wheat, cotton and oilseed.
18:43Somewhere else where dressmaking creativity blossoms is the Maureen Tafe.
18:50And it's where Colleen and Melinda are comparing notes about their favourite shop in town,
18:55Sylvia's Fabrics.
18:57You know, I go a fair way back with Sylvia.
19:00I don't know how she's still going because always been full on.
19:04She has.
19:05Sylvia's been a big part of my journey, you know, from early days at Saint Philomena.
19:11And she's got so much knowledge about fabric.
19:13She would have said to you this fabric would be good to print and this wouldn't.
19:16And you can go in there and find unique fabrics where you can't find in like Spotlight.
19:23No, no, no, definitely not.
19:25She won't use the word Spotlight.
19:26No.
19:28I love these colours.
19:30Well, the story's about strong families, strong communities.
19:33So, you know, you see the symbols around the campfire and...
19:37This is the campfire, isn't it?
19:39You could really flounce around in this one.
19:41This one.
19:42Look at all the frills.
19:43Well, the young girl, she opened FOMA in this dress.
19:48Wow.
19:49And she, she sold the show, I think.
19:52Oh, she would have looked like a million dollars, I would imagine.
19:55Especially with all the gorgeous ruffles.
19:56Yeah.
19:57It would have been just beautiful.
19:58You'd have to be a young, skinny mini thing.
20:00Absolutely.
20:01Don't think I'd be squeezing into those.
20:02Definitely.
20:03No, definitely.
20:04No, it's amazing.
20:08So how would you compare Melinda's work to yours?
20:11Oh, look, quite different.
20:13But I'm a big fan of couture and bespoke, so...
20:16Yeah.
20:17It'd be the same.
20:18It's probably just mostly mine are white and...
20:20Yeah, and where I can use colours and stories.
20:23Yes.
20:36But that doesn't mean to say that we can't collaborate.
20:39No, definitely not.
20:40And do a...
20:41It'd be fabulous to do a wonderful Indigenous pattern wedding dress.
20:45That'd be very cool.
20:46Well, that's something we can talk about.
20:47We have to work towards that.
20:48Yeah.
20:49It is lovely to dress country girls.
20:50Yes.
20:51It's a really nice...
20:52We do have...
20:53We do have a bit of style about us as country girls.
20:55We do.
20:56Of course you do.
20:57We do indeed.
20:59Such creative minds.
21:01Dressmakers who work in quite different ways
21:04and give a lot of joy as they do it.
21:10This TAFE is also where Melinda teaches a weekly course
21:13in one of the last remaining dedicated sewing classrooms
21:17in country New South Wales.
21:19What would you do without this?
21:21I don't know because I can't afford to get things fixed in the house.
21:24I make blinds and curtains and all sorts of things here.
21:27And so I've got six children.
21:28So without the help of Melinda, I wouldn't probably find the time.
21:31And it makes me do it.
21:32For me, I think this is kind of what I joked was our version of the men's shed for women
21:37because most of the women who come are farming women.
21:40And this is where we come and talk.
21:41And often it's a lot of levity and, you know, it's fun too.
21:44But there's some days where people are just having a tough time.
21:47And it's been a real saving grace for lots of people, I think.
21:50When you're making clothes, the main thing that probably makes it better than buying something,
21:57because it's not exactly cheap to sew, you know, you're buying nice fabric to put the effort in,
22:01but it's the fit that's difficult to do yourself.
22:05And Melinda is just phenomenal at it.
22:08It's amazing.
22:09So anything you make is going to fit well.
22:11And, you know, feeling confident in your clothes and things you've made is not always easy.
22:17But with Melinda, you know that it's going to look good.
22:20This is a beautiful fabric here.
22:22Yes.
22:23This is sewing as a community.
22:26The hours invested in fabric and thread are rewarded tenfold.
22:31With conversation and lampshades and cake.
22:36And relationships that mean a lot more than any of that.
22:43It's the morning of the wedding.
22:45The venue, a family farm near Inverill, about two hours from Moree.
22:51Where it's a flurry of activity and champagne.
22:54We could do this all the time.
22:58As the bridal party ready themselves for the big day.
23:08Melinda has already been here for hours.
23:12Melinda, is this all part of the service?
23:14It is indeed.
23:15It's a long day of ironing.
23:16I usually try and get here in the morning and I start with the bridesmaids dresses
23:20and I usually end with the wedding dress.
23:22You are unbelievable.
23:23I like to just do it that I know that everything's perfect.
23:26Hoping that a zipper doesn't bust or a button doesn't pop off.
23:33How many buttons have we got on this dress?
23:35I think there's 142, I think, on this dress.
23:38No.
23:40There is.
23:41All done by your husband.
23:42All done by Des.
23:43They all work, but we only will undo them to about 30, I think,
23:48and then the rest of them just...
23:50What a duo you two are.
23:52Well, I'd better not hold you up, have I?
23:55Back to work you go.
23:56No, that's...
23:58With the hair done, the table set, the chairs arranged,
24:03family and friends are gathering under a marquee in the rain.
24:07And the dress, that's been three months in the making,
24:12finally gets its first public airing.
24:23Wow.
24:26It's beautiful.
24:27It's beautiful.
24:28It's beautiful.
24:30It's beautiful.
24:36You're so romantic.
24:37I don't want that hair.
24:41I'm, yeah, pretty happy with it.
24:44It feels fantastic and just better than I could have imagined.
24:48Better.
24:49Better.
24:50That is high praise.
24:51It is high praise.
24:52We have some extra little details added and, yeah, it's beautiful.
24:56Congratulations.
24:57I think you look just fantastic.
24:59Oh, thank you, Heather.
25:00And have a ripper time.
25:01We will.
25:07Couture.
25:09Bespoke.
25:10Made to measure at its finest.
25:13This dress is as unique as the relationship it's celebrating.
25:17The weather is irrelevant,
25:20but the dress is now part of the story.
25:23So that when Eliza grabs the arm of her dad to walk down the aisle,
25:28she feels at her very best.
25:32This is the fun part.
25:33This is the really lovely part to be involved.
25:35It's a very special thing to be part of someone's most special day.
25:39I do love that last moment where I'm the last person to see the dad and the bride walk down the aisle.
25:45It's a really lovely thing.
25:46Really beautiful.
25:48And after all those weeks of working on this dress.
25:50It is.
25:51You forget the pain.
25:52Yeah, then it's out of sight forever.
25:54It is.
25:55Oh, never out of sight.
25:56I didn't ever forget a dress.
25:59A beautiful dress can change a lot.
26:02I've seen that through Sylvia and Colleen and Melinda and the ladies at the TAFE.
26:09And right now.
26:10For the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson and Eliza Muir.
26:22Look at how much joy a dressmaker can bring.
26:25And you don't have to live in the city to do it.
26:28That's what I've learned on this journey from the women who love to sew.
26:32From New York catwalks to the moray tape.
26:35They'll keep on doing it.
26:56Next time, I'm blown away by North East Tasmania.
26:59Well, if it's good enough for Mary Poppins.
27:04Where any reason is reason enough to get together.
27:07How much beer and how much bullshit?
27:09Probably more bullshit than beer.
27:11It's the home of the Coastal Plains nation.
27:14So, Manalagina days on this weekend.
27:16We're expecting up to a thousand people.
27:19And where you can feast on the bounty of the sea.
27:22Six pack of beer is how long it takes to cook a croat.
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