New Costumes Wow Visitors to Christchurch Botanic Gardens

New Costumes Wow Visitors at the Enchanted Garden in the Botanic Gardens

New Display at Christchurch International Airport

If you look very carefully, you can see a face.

As the beautiful bonnets of hundreds of daffodils dance in the spring sunshine around Christchurch, a unique, rather large daff has been spotted on the move.

Designer Jenny Gillies has included spring flower costumes in a new display at Christchurch International Airport in the check-in hall at the airport, opposite Coffee Culture.

In place for the next 7 weeks as a part of the “Hello Spring” promotion (a collaboration between Gillies, Patricia Proctor Design and the CCC Christchurch Botanic Gardens) Jenny says she’s loving being part of the bright and colourful promotion which showcases an amazing full fabric daffodil and a tree in blossom costume.

“We are the Garden City after all and it must be lovely to be greeted with something as colourful and unique as this, when you arrive in the city,” she says.

On Friday 29th Sept and next Friday 6 October from 2:30-4:30 PM, a Jazz Band will perform and there will be 2 pop up fashion shows in the terminal with models wearing Jenny’s costumes and passing out flowers to passengers.

Meanwhile the number of people visiting the Enchanted Garden display in the old Tea Kiosk in the Botanic Gardens has been steady through the winter and will increase with the change of weather.

“Of course the sun always brings more people into the Gardens and they are looking just gorgeous at the moment,” says Jenny.

The Enchanted Garden is open every day (except Christmas and New Years Day), 10am-14pm. Best entrance is off the Armagh Street Bridge / Gardens Carpark or walk through from Rolleston Avenue towards Victoria Lake / Armagh Street Bridge.

Cost: Adults $10. Seniors, students and children over 5 are $5 and children under 5 are free. A family concession (2 adults, 2 children) is $15.

Background:

Jenny, who lives in Christchurch, combines her love of gardens and flowers to create truly amazing costumes, often taking three months and up to 70 metres of sumptuous silk and velvet fabrics to complete.

A former microbiologist, Jenny started making wearable art 20 years ago after a sunflower hat she made was spotted at the annual Christchurch Cup and Show Week horse racing events, and she was then commissioned to make more. Jenny has gone on to produce costumes for theatre, film and opera, and has won several awards.

Her work has featured at the Royal Adelaide Show, the World of Wearable Art Awards, and Ellerslie International Flower Show. Her work has featured at the Royal Adelaide Show, the World of Wearable Art Awards, and Ellerslie International Flower Show. A selection of her designs are on display in the old Tea Kiosk at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, open every day except Christmas and New Year.

Jenny’s gowns begin with a real flower, which she pulls apart to create patterns for each element and ensure that her creation is botanically correct. She now has a collection of around 100 costumes and displays a regularly rotating selection at the Victorian Tea Kiosk in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch.

ENDS

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