The collection and the V&A has been put together to represent items that are significant in the history of design and in the history of the decorative arts. So they are there because they represent something special in terms of the longer history of fashion.
Until very recently they weren’t particularly presented because of the wearer; because of who wore the dress or because of the context in which it was worn which presents us with a challenge when we start to think about issues of personal identity.
