A 131-year-old building in Oamaru's Victorian Precinct has acted as Musical Theatre Oamaru's properties store for about 25 years and during a tidy-up a fortnight ago, the two Victorian dresses were discovered.
They were wrapped in tissue paper and stored at the bottom of a box of other costumes and it is unknown how long they have been sitting there for.
''They have just sort of appeared. It's a true mystery,'' Avril Keep said.
''The actual work is so intricate. How many people could actually do that nowadays?''
Musical Theatre Oamaru, formerly Oamaru Operatic Society, left both dresses with the North Otago Museum and curator Chloe Searle said she would make a thorough examination of them.
''They're lovely,'' Miss Searle said.
''Obviously, I don't know a huge amount about them, except that they're Victorian and if anyone remembers dropping them off [at the wardrobe] it would be fantastic to know more about who might have worn them or owned them.
''Given that Oamaru is known for its Victorian buildings, we're always interested to get Victorian clothing, because it is of so much interest locally.''
Anyone with information on the dresses should contact the North Otago Museum.
