Dress

A printed cotton voile mini-dress cut from a full circle of fabric. Designed by The Fool, a fashion collective led by Dutch designer Marijke Koger. With financial backing from the Beatles, The Fool opened a boutique in Baker Street in 1967. The multicoloured, psychedelic premises became a hang-out for hippies but the business lost money fast.

This garment was purchased and worn in 1967 by Dilys Marie Parsons who was born in 1942. At the time she was the supervisor of the typing pool at the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in Wigmore Street. She walked past The Fool every day on her way to and from work. She bought the dress as a sun-dress, wearing it over either a bright orange or a lime-green bikini for holidays in Spain, Majorca and Italy. The dress was one of the cheaper items in the shop.

The dress has bands of fabric forming the collar and ties over the shoulder. The fabric of the dress is printed in red, yellow, turquoise and green in a feather pattern which resembles marbling. The garment label, showing an apple on a dark blue ground scattered with stars, is influenced by the design of the tarot card from which the boutique derived its name.