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1986: The Englishwoman's Wardrobe | Forty Minutes | BBC Archive
Posted
February 14, 2026
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February 14, 2026
326,294
10,488
1,068
3.54%
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38:45Now PlayingAngela Huth explores The Englishwoman's Wardrobe.
Why is it that as a nation, we have such a rotten reputation as dressers? What are we trying to say about ourselves through our appearance?
"Oh not black again, dear," says Denis - but Margaret Thatcher knows a secret or two about old faithfuls and reliable standbys. Tonight the Prime Minister reveals, for the first time, the inside story of her wardrobe.
Selina Scott who always wants "to look a bit different from everyone else"; the probation officer who last wore a dress when she danced with the Prince of Wales; the bubbly society hostess who seems to wear only party dresses; the housewife with an eye for the 20p bargain with a designer label - these are just some of the extraordinary and ordinary women who unlock their wardrobes and tell all, proving that the only thing in vogue is individuality.
Photography: Philip Bonham Carter
Film editor: Alan Lygo
Researcher: Christine Hall
Producer: Ruth Jackson
Editor: Edward Mirzoeff
Clip taken from Forty Minutes, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 20 November, 1986.
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