This ensemble was offered for acquisition following the 2019 Mary Quant exhibition which charted the development of the designer’s career and brand, from 1955 to 1975. The owner Caroline Montagu-Pollock responded to the ‘#WeWantQuant’ public callout for Mary Quant garments broadcast as part of the exhibition. With its low scooped neckline, contrasting waistcoat-style bodice and waist-defining patent-leather belt, ‘City Slicker’ plays with the proportions of masculine tailoring. It is a key example of Quant's designs of the early 1960s, which often used heavy wools and tweeds, taking traditional fabrics associated with menswear and using them for modern, streamlined dresses for women. A similar ‘City Slicker’ dress design featured in a 1963 photoshoot by Terence Donovan, modelled by Celia Hammond with a matador-style hat.

Caroline Montagu-Pollock was a photographic model during the early 1960s and regularly modelled clothes designed by Mary Quant. She recalled, ‘When Mary burst on to the scene [with] her brilliant clear-cut style, in the most gorgeous materials, it was a revelation.’ She bought several outfits from the King's Road branch of Mary Quant's boutique Bazaar, including a petticoat-style skirt also in the V&A collection (T.283-2019).