Search

Explore the collection:

We hold a diverse textile collection that encompasses clothing, costumes, banners and items like tea towels, tote bags and handkerchiefs. The most substantial component of our Textile Collection are over 850 T-shirts, dating from the early 1970s gay liberation period to the present. They document protests, volunteering, businesses and pride and are largely Australian, but also include material from the USA and Europe, documenting in particular the Gay Games, and leather and fetish events. Other items of clothing include caps, underwear, shorts, uniforms, and motor club overlays.

We also hold a small but important collection of costumes, encompassing notable drag outfits from the late 1960s onward, as well as unique clothing items prepared for events. We have more than 100 banners dating from the 1970s to the present, including hand-painted banners used at protests, pull-up banners promoting products, and a small group of dance party and band backdrops.

Textiles catalogue listing (pdf)

T-shirts catalogue listing (pdf)

Tank Ngaya Yaam, 2022, designed by Jason King
Life Apparel Pride 2022 Collection 2022
Janet Rice knitting in Parliamanet, 20 March 2017, photograph by Mike Bowers, courtesy The Guardian_featured
Janet Rice’s knitted marriage equality scarf 2017
'Moral Majority says gays should be blatant, heteros are all the time', May 1982, designed by Ken Lovett
Kendall (Ken) Lovett’s Moral Majority overlay 1982
Punk jacket front, 1988-1993, by Marcus Bunyan
Marcus Bunyan’s punk jacket 1988-1993
Geelong Lesbian Group – Geelong, Vic, Australia, [200?]
Geelong Lesbian Group – banner c.1990s
Gay Mardi Gras ’83  – Peter Tully, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1983, 43
Gay Mardi Gras, 1983 t-shirt 1983
Gays Against The Bicentenary : 200 Years Of Oppression & Bad Taste – Kendall Lovett, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1988, 361
Gays against the Bicentenary: 200 years of oppression &... 1988
Maggie(?) seated in Miss Peninsula sash with Samantha and Honky Tonk, [1991], (Photo: unidentified photographer) BB-04d
Miss Peninsula sash 1965-1996
Colin Simson’s Roo BC overlay – Colin Simson, Australia, c.1980-1990s, Papers of Colin Simson
Colin Simson’s Roo BC overlay c.1980-1990s