One woman's passion for vintage will be celebrated in a glamorous fashion exhibition next month.
Forty garments, mainly ball gowns from the 40s and 50s, will be displayed alongside classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles at Coutts Newmarket on November 12.
There will also be day dresses and pieces from the 60s and 70s to admire, along with French lingerie from the 40s. Cars from the era have been sourced from private collections, and will be displayed alongside the dresses.
All proceeds from the event will go to Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides support to families whose children have to receive specialist medical treatment away from home. Last year the charity helped over 3500 families, but its aim is to broaden its reach even more.
Hilaire Field, who owns the impressive collection of clothing, was approached by the charity after a supporter saw a show she did for the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
She began collecting when she inherited her aunt's wardrobe around 20 years ago. “I've always loved beautiful clothes and my mother was always well dressed,” she says.
Now she jokingly likens herself to an anthropologist. When she isn't with her grandchildren or working in Trelise Cooper's Parnell boutique, she scours vintage shops and travels New Zealand in search of beautiful pieces.
A number of these were loaned to the New Zealand Fashion Museum for their current exhibition At the Beach.
While the collection is stored at her home mostly in boxes, one day Hilaire hopes to have enough space to display it "for everyone to enjoy".
• Vintage Fashion Exhibition, 6pm, November 12 at Coutts Newmarket. Tickets, $75 from Ticketek, includes Champagne and canapes created by The Green Kitchen's Neena Truscott and Belinda MacDonald, winners of My Kitchen Rules NZ 2014.
