Biba, Long dress in dark red synthetic satin, London, 1970.

A dark red full length dress in synthetic satin. The neckline forms a deep wide V that meets the high, underbust waist seam. The sleeves are long and volumous, with a gathered shoulder and wrist.

Given by Pauline Messenger

Barbara Hulanicki, founder of Biba, initially worked as a fashion illustrator. After experimenting with selling clothes by mail order through the Daily Mirror, she opened her first Biba store in an old chemist’s shop on Abingdon Road, a quiet cul-de-sac off Kensington High Street in 1964. The clothes were good value, so young working women could shop alongside models, singers and actresses. Hulanicki’s brand represented a ‘lifestyle’ approach that influenced the development of British retail in the 1970s and afterwards.

This outfit demonstrates the eclectic style of the late 1960s; the bias-cut satin dress is reminiscent of 1930s fashion, and was worn with a heavy jacquard-woven waistcoat (T.2-2016) fits in with the taste for medieval romanticism. Unlike many Biba dresses, this example can be securely dated because it was worn as a wedding dress.

T.1-2016