Bodice, blouse

This white muslin shirt was bought by Kim Philpotts in the mid to late 1980s, and was worn with a Katharine Hamnett suit also within the museum's collection. It was bought from Hamnett's store in Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, and with the suit formed one of Philpotts favourite ensembles, as it could be worn in a variety of combinations.

Philpotts has donated a number of items to the Museum of London. An early love of fashion developed further once she moved to London, after graduating in Set and Costume Design from Birmingham in 1981. British fashion was becoming increasingly popular at that time, as the country moved away from the austerity of the 1970s and into the more optimistic 1980s. Philpotts remembers that fashion became much more glamourous, with an emphasis upon self-projection, which appealed to Philpotts' interest in the theatrical.