Co-ordinated ensemble of plaid wool dress with knitted sleeves, stockings and bonnet, British, Mary Quant, 1964.

Cream wool straight-cut dress with red and navy checks, knitted cowl neckline and natural cream cable-knit wool sleeves. Tie-belt of checked wool. Co-ordinating cable-knit natural wool bonnet and stockings.

Given by Mary Quant

Although many of the 1973 acquisitions of garments from the Museum of London retrospective of Quant's work were remade at the time, this dress appears to be an original 1960s piece. The remade pieces are in pristine unworn condition and contain 1973 labels, whilst this dress is unlabelled, shows signs of having been worn, and could very well be from Mary Quant's personal wardrobe, as several photographs exist of her wearing this design. For example, a photograph of Quant in her design studio wearing this dress is published on page 10 of Radical Rags: Fashion of the Sixties by Joel Lobenthal. She is not wearing the co-ordinating bonnet or stockings.

Another photograph taken on 29 October 1964 by an Evening Standard photographer and held in the Hulton Archive collection, is viewable on the Getty Images database (reference number #3366283). It shows a full length shot of Mary Quant (wearing the dress and belt but not the associated accessories), the hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, and Sundra Mundy sitting in a pub.
- Daniel Milford-Cottam (2011)

Although many of the 1976 Quant acquisitions were remade in the early 1970s for the Museum of London retrospective in 1973, this dress is probably an original 1964 piece from Mary Quant's personal wardrobe.

Mary Quant’s first boutique, Bazaar, opened in London's King's Road in 1955, launching a successful fashion career. Her youthful easy-to-wear clothing became so popular that in 1963, she launched a lower-priced ready-to-wear range called 'Ginger Group'. She also entered into licensing agreements with manufacturers to produce hosiery, underwear, cosmetics and accessories bearing her name. Almost anyone, whatever their income, could spare the money to buy a pair of 'Mary Quant' stockings or a lipstick. This enabled girls who could not otherwise afford her clothing to feel in touch with fashion, and made Mary Quant into a household name and a commercial success.

Her contribution to British life was marked by a retrospective exhibition at the London Museum in 1973. The exhibition included many of Quant's most revolutionary garments, some remade as facsimiles if original ones could not be found.

T.107, A-D-1976