-
Pair of cuff links
Unknown - Enlarge image
Pair of cuff links
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (made)
- Date:
1990s (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Metal
- Museum number:
T.717:1, 2-1994
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This outfit was worn by Inge Blackman, a gay black woman. It was displayed in the V&A's Streetstyle exhibition of 1994-95 to represent lesbian style of 1993-94.
There are various terms used within the gay community to describe particular styles of dress and appearance. For example, "butch" may be used to describe an exaggerated masculinity in both male and female dress. Inge's friends described her style as "butch-dandy", because she wore men's jackets, shirts and trousers, but with flamboyant ties and cuff links. She acknowledged her African ancestry with dreadlocked hair and brightly coloured head-wraps, and also wore lipstick.
Inge used her clothes to make political statements about race and sexuality. She said: "My clothes carry codes for my sexuality which will be too subtle for those narrow minded people who find lipstick, dreadlocks and a black skin incompatible with lesbianism."
