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Dress

Dress

  • Place of origin:

    Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)

  • Date:

    1971 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Biba (retailer)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Cotton jersey

  • Credit Line:

    Given by Elizabeth Wilson

  • Museum number:

    T.945-1994

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

  • Image in copyright

This purple jersey dress and the orange feather boa (see T.946-1994) 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."

Physical description

Purplish-pink cotton jersey long dress with full sleeves.

Place of Origin

Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)

Date

1971 (made)

Artist/maker

Biba (retailer)

Materials and Techniques

Cotton jersey

Object history note

Worn by Elizabeth Wilson to the first Gay Liberation Front Ball in the Old Kensington Town Hall with long purple boots from Anello & Davide. She said "This was the period of positive (i.e., not sexless) hippie androgyny and butch was definitely not politically correct. Quite a few lesbians wore Biba clothes, and they were even more commonly worn by feminists generally." (Surfers, Soulies, Skinheads & Skaters, Gay & Lesbian section).

Registered File number 1994/1859.

Descriptive line

Dress, purplish-pink cotton jersey, Biba, Great Britain, 1971.

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

Cotton jersey

Categories

Fashion; Homosexuality; Women's clothes

Production Type

Ready to wear

Collection code

T&F

Qr_O140982
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