"Offering a fresh look at the role of clothes in New Zealand history, Looking Flash examines what we wear and what we have worn - from the shrinking bathing suit to the black singlet - over the past three centuries. The writers show that, despite a reputation for being wary of 'looking flash', New Zealand has not always been a dowdy country. Essays span the clothing of pre-colonial Maori society, marching girls and castaways, and include eighteenth-century heirloom dresses, hand-me-downs, wartime garb and kilts. There are also extraordinary stories about the fate of a Maori cloak and an Otago farmer's remarkable collection of 1970s high-fashion garments."--BOOK JACKET.

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