Fayisse Clarke remembers every detail of the beautiful white dress she wore to her first ball, more than 60 years ago. Sewn in the latest flock nylon, it had a very full skirt over layers of tulle that reached to the floor, a wrapped off-the-shoulder bodice, and mother-of-pearl flowers hand-stitched around the neckline.
Fayisse designed and made the garment herself as part of the two-year dressmaking course she completed at the Ballarat School of Mines. It was one of her final projects, scoring her good marks. She chose to make the dress, knowing that she was about to take part in a tradition that is honoured to this day in the Victorian Mallee town of Rainbow.
