Anna Neagle, one of the great British film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, was 69 when she starred in the revival of the 1920s musical No, No Nanette in 1973. She had made her last film in the late 1950s, but returned to the stage in 1965 after her husband, film director Herbert Wilcox, was declared bankrupt. Neagle revived her husband's fortunes by playing in the musical Charlie Girl, which ran for over six years as well as touring Australia and New Zealand. Two years later she appeared in a revival of the musical comedy No, No Nanette, which she had filmed thirty years earlier. Still in good shape, for a woman of 69, her legs and figure were a tribute to her early training as a dancer, and this dress, designed by Raoul Pebe de Bois and made by the costumiers Nathans, was created to show off her legs by enhancing yet concealing them with the shimmering long bead fringing. The dress was reserved for the finale, where it would make most impact.