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Pair of boots

Pair of boots

  • Place of origin:

    Great Britain, UK (made)

  • Date:

    1990s (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Leather

  • Museum number:

    T.715:1, 2-1994

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

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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."

Physical description

Black leather lace-up boots.

Place of Origin

Great Britain, UK (made)

Date

1990s (made)

Artist/maker

Unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Leather

Object history note

Part of an outfit (T.709 to 717-1994) worn by Inge Blackman to represent 1993-94 Lesbian Style for the Street Style exhibition held at the V&A between 1994-95. She said of this outfit:

"My friends describe my style as butch-dandy: classic men's jackets, flamboyant ties, cuff links, bright head-wraps, and of course, lipstick! I wear dreadlocks to show respect for my African ancestry. 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."

Purchased. Registered File number 1994/1527.

Descriptive line

Pair of boots, black leather lace-up, British, 1990s; part of Lesbian Style outfit, UK 1993-4.

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

Leather

Categories

Footwear; Fashion; African Diaspora; Homosexuality; Women's clothes

Collection code

T&F

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Qr_O237697
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