---
node: fashion_australia
type: fashion
slug: australia_fashion
title: "Fashion history of Australia"
lead: "Australian dress began with the climate-adapted dress of Indigenous peoples over 65,000 years — the possum-skin cloak of the south, body painting and adornment — and after 1788 transplanted British dress was overlaid. Modern Australia is known for a practical, relaxed outdoor style, from the wide-brimmed hat to surfwear."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: australia_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Roberts_-_Shearing_the_rams_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg"
image_author: "Tom Roberts — Shearing the Rams (1890)"
image_license: "Public domain"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (australia region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples used minimal dress and body adornment in warm regions, and the sewn possum-skin cloak in the cold south.

## The story of dress

After settlement in 1788, British dress was brought and adapted to the climate. Through the gold rushes and the world wars, modern Australia grew a relaxed, outdoor style — the akubra hat, the Driza-Bone coat, and surf and beach wear.