---
node: fashion_au_gold_rush
type: fashion
slug: australian_gold_rush_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Gold Rush Era"
lead: "In the gold rush era, people gathered from around the world and the practical dress of the gold digger spread: moleskin trousers, a flannel shirt, and the wide-brimmed cabbage-tree hat against the sun are its symbols."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: australian_gold_rush_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dangerously_Suspicious_(BM_1969,0614.36).jpg"
image_author: "Gold-rush print, Victoria (1852)"
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

The discovery of gold from 1851 swelled the population and brought practicality and variety to dress.

## Key garments and style

On the diggings, miners wore sturdy moleskin or corduroy trousers, a flannel shirt and heavy boots, with the cabbage-tree hat woven of palm leaf against the sun. In the towns, those enriched by gold wore fashionable Victorian dress, and the dress of the wandering swagman also became a feature of the age.

## Transition

In the Federation era, a distinctly Australian style began to take form out of this practical dress.