Bodysuit

Physical description

Purple stretch synthetic satin bodysuit with tubes of fabric hanging unsupported from breasts and crotch.

Place of Origin

Great Britain, United Kingdom (designed)

Date

1988 (made)

Artist/maker

Montgomery, James (designer)

Materials and Techniques

Elasticated synthetic satin

Object history note

Part of a Gay style outfit (T.731 to 733-1994) worn and given by Cornelius Brady, who enjoyed wearing outrageous clothes in the 1980s. The jacket was made for him by the performance artist and club host Leigh Bowery. He wore this outfit to the supermarket, where he enjoyed the reaction of others. "People were completely shocked when I wore it to Tesco - and it looked good with a big trolley."

Bowery had experience in the fashion industry. He had worked with the 80s youth fashion label Body Map, and continued to make clothes for his friends. The leotard and cap were made by James Montgomery, a pattern cutter for Richmond Cornejo (a '80s fashion label run by John Richmond and Maria Cornejo which dissolved in 1988 when they went their separate ways).

Registered File number 1994/1482.

Descriptive line

Man's bodysuit, purple synthetic stretch satin, James Montgomery; British, 1988.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

De La Haye, Amy and Cathie Dingwall, eds. Surfers Soulies Skinheads & Skaters: Subcultural Style from the Forties to the Nineties. London: Victoria and Albert Publications, 1996.

Exhibition History

Streetstyle, From Sidewalk to Catwalk, 1940 to Tomorrow (Victoria and Albert Museum 16/11/1994-19/02/1995)

Materials

Synthetic fibre

Techniques

Satin weave

Categories

Fashion; Homosexuality; Men's clothes

Collection code

T&F