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Harriet

Dress
Autumn/Winter 1985 (made)
Artist/Maker
Body Map (designed for)
Stuart, Stevie (designer)
Holah, David (designer)
Place of origin
Great Britain (made)

This matching ensemble of knitted dress and lycra tights was designed by Bodymap. The designers Stevie Stuart and David Holah formed the company, which had a reputation during the 1980s for producing innovative layered clothing.

This dress is hand-knitted from black cotton, with ribbing at the top, skirt and cuffs for increased elasticity. The bright knitted ruffles add colour to the front of the dress. The back is a plain tube, with added drama provided by the coloured bows on the back of the tights.

Object details

Categories
Fashion
Womenswear
Clothing
Object type
Dress
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Dress
  • Stocking
  • Stocking
Titles
  • Harriet (assigned by artist)
  • HalfWorld (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Hand-knitted cotton and rayon, nylon, polyester and lycra
Cotton Yarn
Lycra
Rayon
Nylon
Polyester
Hand Knitting
Brief description
"Harriet" dress and stockings, 1985, British, Bodymap
Physical description
Hand-knitted cotton dress with two lycra stockings. Bright knitted rayon ruffles and bows add colour to the front of the dress, while the back is a plain tube. With ribbing at the top, at the skirt and cuffs for increased elasticity. Stockings of black nylon, polyester and lycra and with brightly coloured bows. The bows on the stockings are a feature of the back of the outfit.
Dimensions
  • Neck to hem length: 110cm
  • Across chest width: 46cm
Tension: 3 stitches per inch 1.5 stitches per cm
Gallery label
(1997)
Stevie Stewart and David Holah received instant acclaim for their unconventional, layered and often sculptural collections in bodly coloured and patterned fabrics. Here they extended a sweater to create a dress with angled frills, teamed with shiny stockings, each extrovertly decorated with five floppy, colourful bows.
(1985)
'HARRIET' DRESS
Hand-knitted cotton and Tricotine (rayon and polyamide)
STOCKINGS
Machine knitted nylon, polyester and lycra.
British: Body Map (Stevie Stuart and David Holah), the Half World Collection, Autumn/Winter 1985

The young design team Body Map create lively and sometimes outrageous clothing. Knitting has been an important part of their collections since they started out just over two years ago. The tube shaped dress with long sleeves is knitted mainly in reverse stocking stitch. The yoke, polo neck, cuffs and skirt are ribbed. The front and sleeves are decorated with frills knitted in garter stitch. The stockings are cut and sewn from the shiny pile fabric. The gaily coloured bows along the back seams are made from the same material.

Given by Stevie Stuart and David Holah
T.313 to B-1985
Credit line
Given by the designers
Summary
This matching ensemble of knitted dress and lycra tights was designed by Bodymap. The designers Stevie Stuart and David Holah formed the company, which had a reputation during the 1980s for producing innovative layered clothing.

This dress is hand-knitted from black cotton, with ribbing at the top, skirt and cuffs for increased elasticity. The bright knitted ruffles add colour to the front of the dress. The back is a plain tube, with added drama provided by the coloured bows on the back of the tights.
Collection
Textiles and Fashion Collection
Accession number
T.313 to B-1985

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Record createdAugust 28, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O83810/harriet-dress-stuart-stevie/
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