Betty Viazim

1982, 42 Minutes

In 1922 at the age of 13, Betty Viazim began her apprenticeship as a milliner with Mark Foys, Sydney's premier fashion department store. She was the last apprentice to be trained in the old methods of hat making, before electric sewing machines revolutionized the millinery trade.

In this film Betty talks about her adolescence working at Mark Foys and what it was like to be a young woman growing up in Sydney in the first half of the 20th century. When hats went out of fashion in the 1960s she turned her considerable skills towards theatre and films. Betty Viazim is credited with designing the headwear in the Australian films Careful, He Might Hear You (1983) and For Love Alone (1986). In 1981 she was awarded The Order of the British Empire Medal (Civil) for services to the Performing Arts.

Produced by Film Australia in association with The Archival Film Program of the Australia Council. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.