Bring Oot Your Biba is our new project that celebrates Dovecot's upcoming exhibition, The Biba Story, 1964-1975, and what the brand means to you. We are asking for your stories to feature on the Dovecot Studios blog and even be in with the chance of featuring in the upcoming exhibition. We will be publishing submissions on here throughout the run of the exhibition, so join us to honour Biba’s iconic designs!
Bridal Blouse
Blouse, 1969 | Dress, 1968
I started buying Biba clothes in the late 60’s from the mail order catalogues. I waited in anticipation for each one to come out, I drooled over the photos which were very avant garde. My favourite piece was a white blouse with pirate sleeves, deep cuffs and covered buttons, cost £3/15/6 new. I got married in this blouse. There was nothing like Biba in Edinburgh, the colours, the cut, the design, the material all fabulous...Everything I ordered from the catalogues was promptly delivered and as described in the catalogue. Biba was unique, ahead of her time, a trend setter, fabulous.
– Carole Jackson
Perfect in Plum
Dress, c. 1971
Louise Mackenzie was wearing Biba ever since Biba’s Postal Boutique mail order service. She recalls going to every store and once, at Abingdon Road, Barbara Hulanicki coming out with a tray of tea for customers. This flowing plum dress was one of the many dresses she purchased from Biba. She recalls the fit being suitable for her as a maternity dress as well as non-maternity wear. She was delighted to see the same dress featured in Biba: The Fashion Brand that Defined a Generation (2024) in photographs of the Bergdorf Goodman shop windows (on page 117).
A Teenage Dream in Biba
As a teenager in the early 70s, I aspired to be a Biba babe. Saturday trips to the High Street Kensington shop were magical, wandering round the vast store, feeling the exotic materials and trying on the dresses. The roof garden was an oasis, and I was amazed that boring items like fridges could come in purple! Sadly, almost everything was out of my price range, but I did buy the make-up and a blue lurex scarf which I still have.
– Sally Cross
Sisterhood, Style and a Red Dress
Dress, c.1971
Here's my Biba Story, or rather my sister's Biba story. Sadly my sister died 30 years ago and when clearing her clothes I just couldn't part with this Biba dress and what it meant to me. In 1971 at the age of 16 and living in rural Essex I was very envious of my sister, then 20, who had started working and living in London. Always very stylish, she loved the Biba store and everything in it. In the early days of working and paying rent for the first time her budget was tight. So rather than a Biba dress, she bought this lovely nightdress but wore it as a dress. I loved that dress and the London life it represented, away from parental eyes where your bohemian style could be admired as you floated around Kensington, Kings Road and Carnaby St in your red nightdress!
– Cathy Malone
Swishing Through the Seventies
I don’t actually remember buying them, but it must have been in 1974, the year after Biba opened in the old Derry & Toms store on Kensington High Street. I do remember being utterly charmed by the interior – the dark glamour of velvet and peacock feathers. I even found myself standing next to Bianca Jagger at the cosmetics counter. More glamour still. I loved the colour of the flares I bought – a bright lime green – and I adored swishing about in them. We needed glamour in the 1970s. They were dark, febrile times of strikes, protest marches and electricity blackouts. After rent and fares there was rarely much left for food; I had to save just to go out. So Biba’s glamour was very welcome fun.
– Marjory Horne
Fifteen and Fashionably Free
Dress, 1967
When I was 15 my mother gave me a dress allowance of £5 a month, just about the price of a Biba cotton dress - perfect! My friends and I started hanging out in the Church Street Biba every weekend. Surrounded by traditional shops, which we considered boring, it felt really special to sit amongst the feather boas, hatstands and aspidestras just people watching and planning what we would buy. No one cared how long you stayed there and it felt so grown up and cool. One of my first purchases in 1967 was a wavy stripe cotton dress in Biba signature dark colours of blue, brown and navy, with contrast white collar and cuffs. My favourite dress was a brown and white check summer dress with tight bodice and puff sleeves which attracted a lot of attention from boys! I met a boy at a bus stop while wearing this dress on a hot summer day. We dated for a while and he asked me to wear the same dress to his birthday party in January, which was held in a freezing church hall. I got a terrible cold as a result of obliging him!
– Carolyn Bevan
Nine Years Old at Biba
I vividly remember my first visit to Biba in London. I must have been about nine or ten. We lived in West Yorkshire, so it meant a train journey to London, a treat in itself. Mum and I wandered around this incredible shop in awe, so excited just to be there. Even now, at 62, I can still picture the sumptuous black and gold interior: huge pot plants, cosy corners, and bold, richly coloured clothes hanging from hat stands. There were rugs, seating and swags of fringed curtains. It was a shopping experience like no other. I can’t remember what I bought, but I carefully saved the small carrier bag as a keepsake. It’s quite incredible that a visit to a shop can leave such a lasting impression.
– Sally White
From Biba to Bride
Dress, 1968
The cream satin dress was bought from a Biba mail order catalogue in 1968. I loved the dress so much that I had it taken to bits to form a pattern for my wedding in June 1969. I was determined not to have the usual 'long meringue' that was popular then. I was married in the registry office and really wanted a short dress. The actual wedding dress is in Glasgow's Costume collection, along with other clothing from that era. We moved to London in 1972. We lived in Finchley, and I taught in Hackney in Hoxton. This meant I was able to visit the Big Biba shop on a very regular basis after school. I just loved it and bought loads of the home products and wallpaper etc. The shop was unique and unlike anything else on offer in the UK never mind Scotland. It was an absolute feast for all my sesnses and a mind-blowing creative use of that building.
– Lesley Dunlop
How to participate in Bring Oot Your Biba
Submissions are to be sent digitally to marketing@dovecotstudios.com
Contributions should:
- Be between 50 and 200 words in length.
- Be anecdotal – a brief description of your Biba story or item(s). For example, when and where did you wear the clothes, how did it make you feel, what was the experience of buying it like, etc.
- Be accompanied by a maximum of 3 images with no copyright issues. The image needs to be yours and should not contain someone else unless you have express permission to share.
- Avoid any offensive, discriminatory or derogatory language.
What happens next?
- If we want to share your story, it will feature on the Dovecot Studios blog and our social media channels throughout the run of the exhibition.
- If we want to feature your submission in the exhibition, our team will be in touch to ask you if you're happy for your item(s) to appear in The Biba Story, 1964-1975.
By submitting your contribution, you agree to the Terms and Conditions of the project. Please do not send physical items or photos to Dovecot Studios, items sent in error will not be retained or returned.
We can't wait for you to be part of The Biba Story!
Please note that we are no longer accepting submissions to feature in the exhibition, we would still be delighted to receive your stories to share on our digital platforms.