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Feather boa
Biba - Enlarge image
Feather boa
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, UK (made)
- Date:
ca. 1970 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Biba (retailer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Feather
- Credit Line:
Given by Elizabeth Wilson
- Museum number:
T.946-1994
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This orange feather boa and the purple jersey dress (see T.945-1994) worn with it were both bought from Biba in 1971. They were worn by the donor to the first Gay Liberation Front ball at Kensington Town Hall in 1971. This was the first open, publicly-advertised gay dance in the United Kingdom. The donor, who hand-crocheted the tank-top (see T.947-1994) worn with the dress remembered:
"I wore long purple boots from Anello & Davide with it. This was the period of positive (i.e. not sexless) hippie androgny, and butch was definitely not politically correct. Quite a few lesbians wore Biba clothes, and they were even more commonly worn by feminists."
