Until the abolition of theatre censorship in 1968, female strippers and nudes were permitted in English theatre if they were exceptionally refined and did not move while they were naked. Presumably the same strictures would have been applied to male strippers, except that it doesn't seem as though anyone in authority thought that such performers existed! Although male strippers existed in private clubs and gatherings, they only began to surface in the 'mainstream' club and cabaret scene after the abolition of theatre censorship; they hit general public consciousness with the phenomenal success of the Chippendales in the 1980s.
This is a rare surviving example of a costume for a male stripper in the 1970s, showing in its flounced shirt and flared trousers all the fashion features of the period. It incorporates the latest technology, that boon to strippers - Velcro, the hook and loop fastening that replaced tape, hook and press stud and allowed performers to rip their costumes apart at high speed, although accompanied by the characteristic tearing sound of Velcro being 'undone'.