Bodice, waistcoat (ensemble)

This long waistcoat, bearing a BIBA label, is made of a metallic fabric. The gold, silver and bronze threads form large paisley motifs. It was worn with a gold satin blouse/mini dress and bought from Biba in about 1969 to wear at a party.

Following the success of Biba's Postal Boutique, which sold simple garments by mail-order, founder Barbara Hulanicki set up her first Biba shop in Abingdon Road, Kensington, in 1964. Two years later, Biba moved to premises in Kensington Church Street.

This shop was so successful that in 1969 Hulanicki moved again into a former carpet showroom with 9,000 square feet (836 square metres) of space in Kensington High Street. In 1973 the shop expanded even more dramatically, taking over the former Derry & Toms department store in the same street, which came to be known as Big Biba. This last move proved too ambitious in the harsh economic climate of the mid-1970s, and the shop closed in 1975.