Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale wore a number of leather outfits in The Avengers and is attributed to creating a tremendous boom in the fashion industry as a result. According to an article in the TV Times 1963, Frederick Starke designed a new leather fighting outfit for her which is described as ...a Tabard set...like an old-fashioned butcher's apron, slit up the sides to hips and worn with a sweater...plus of course the boots.... The tabard in this lot appears to be shorter than the one described here which Honor Blackman wore with shorts, and it is possible that it was made for The Avengers but not used in an episode. According to one of the wardrobe mistresses at the time, a number of different leather tabards were made for Honor Blackman by Starke. Use of them in The Avengers sparked off the fashion for wearing mini skirts with long leather boots.