{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O301403"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O301403/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HE9528/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2014HE9528/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2014HE9528","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014HE9544","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O301403","accessionNumber":"T.650-1997","objectType":"Vest","titles":[{"title":"Gay Pride 1985: Market Tavern","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This singlet was printed for London Gay Pride 1985. The base garment was produced by Body Zone of London, whose vests and singlets were popular with men who wanted to show off their physique, including Freddie Mercury who owned and wore at least two red versions of this top which had the identical print without the pink \"Gay Pride '85\" triangle. The Market Tavern was a gay pub located at Nine Elms, London. Originally opened in the mid-1970s, it had a late license that let it serve the market porters from New Covent Garden well after midnight. During the early 1980s the pub's second room became a popular gay club, with customers travelling down from Soho and the West End to take advantage of its late hours after most pubs closed at 11pm. By 1983 the pub was a completely LGBTQ venue, and hosted themed nights including a women-only night for lesbians, a Northern Soul night, drag cabarets, and leather nights - which Mercury was said to frequent.\n\nThese singlets would have been available as merchandise for the bar. The pink triangle with \"LONDON PRIDE '85' written on it would have been a custom variation created especially for London Gay Pride, applied to existing shirts and vests to create a special edition garment exclusive to that moment in time. The pink triangle was originally a badge applied to prisoners in 1930s and early 1940s Nazi concentration camps to indicate that they had been imprisoned for homosexuality or for being transgender women. When the camps were liberated, surviving inmates found with the pink triangle were not freed, but moved instead to other prisons. In the 1970s, the Gay Pride movement reclaimed the symbol of the pink triangle as a sign of defiance and their protest against homophobia, and the motif is now used as a popular symbol of LGBTQ pride and liberation.\r\n\r\nThis shirt was part of a large collection of T-shirts collected by Richard L. Velleman who died in either 1994 or 1995, which included several shirts with LGBTQ+ and safe-sex themes, including rare London Pride shirts from 1985, alongside band shirts from Velleman's favourite rock and punk bands, others depicting skateboarding, surfing, and partying; and random amusing or funny shirts.\r\n\r\nWe do not know who Richard Velleman was or anything about him beyond that he collected and wore these shirts, many of which show clear signs of having formed part of an actively and enthusiastically worn wardrobe; and that the collection of shirts was donated to us in his memory. The choice of T-shirts is often deeply personal and subject to the wearer's individual taste, acting as a wearable billboard for their beliefs, tastes and other opinions.","physicalDescription":"White cotton vest printed with 'Gay Pride 85' in a pink triangle, which is pointed at the buttocks of a black-and-white drawing of a naked male torso seen from behind. The words MARKET TAVERN are beneath the triangle to the left of the figure.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Body Zone","id":"AUTH407847"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"The Market Tavern","id":"AUTH407848"},"association":{"text":"designed for","id":"x41471"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"}],"techniques":[{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Printed cotton","categories":[{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"},{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Gender and Sexuality","id":"THES48940"},{"text":"LGBTQ","id":"THES266921"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2014HE9528","2014HE9544"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"011","id":"THES306461"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Vest","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1985","earliest":"1985-01-01","latest":"1985-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Donated by Andrew Shanahan in memory of Richard L. Velleman","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Gay Pride 85'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"printed"}],"objectHistory":"This singlet was printed for London Gay Pride 1985. The base garment was produced by Body Zone of London, whose vests and singlets were popular with men who wanted to show off their physique, including Freddie Mercury. In fact, Freddie Mercury owned and wore at least two red versions of this top which had the identical print without the pink \"Gay Pride '85\" triangle. These tops were sold at Sotheby's, London, September 2023. Although this white singlet has lost its Body Zone label, it is almost definitely manufactured by them as well.\n\nThe Market Tavern was a gay pub located at Nine Elms, London. It was opened in the mid-1970s with a late license to allow it to serve the market porters from New Covent Garden. During the early 1980s the pub's second room became a gay club, with cusTomers travelling down from Soho and the West End to take advantage of its late hours after most pubs closed at 11pm. By 1983 the pub had become a completely LGBTQ venue, and hosted themed nights including a women-only night for lesbians, a Northern Soul night, drag cabarets, and leather nights - which Mercury was said to frequent.\n\nThese singlets would have been available as merchandise for the bar. The pink triangle with \"LONDON PRIDE '85' written on it would have been a custom variation created especially for London Gay Pride, applied to existing shirts and vests to create a special edition garment exclusive to that moment in time. The pink triangle was originally used in the 1930s and 1940s to indicate that prisoners in Nazi concentration camps had been imprisoned for homosexuality or for being transgender women; and after the camps were liberated, those prisoners with pink triangles were transferred to other prisons rather than being released. In the 1970s the Gay Pride movement reclaimed the pink triangle as a symbol of their protest against homophobia,and it is now a popular symbol of LGBTQ pride and liberation. \n\nDaniel Milford-Cottam,16/04/2025","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Printed cotton vest by Body Zone, London, for the Market Tavern and Gay Pride 1985","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"buttocks","id":"x39640"},{"text":"male nude","id":"x45958"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["T.650-1997"],"accessionNumberNum":"650","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1997,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2025PK9600"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-01","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}