An off-the-shoulder dress worn by Tracy Brabin in the House of Commons has surpassed £12,000 in a charity auction.
The Labour MP was forced to defend her attire after the dress slipped off her shoulder when she leaned on the despatch box due to a broken ankle on Tuesday.
Ms Brabin has since decided to sell the dress for charity on eBay, where bids reached £12,600 on Saturday morning.
Disco outfit
The auction ends on Thursday February 13 and the money raised will go to Girlguiding, a charity for girls and young women in the UK.
Ms Brabin’s outfit had been criticised on social media earlier in the week.
It was a topic of discussion on the BBC’s Question Time on Thursday – where one audience member described it as “a disco outfit”.
In response to condemnations on Twitter, Ms Brabin had posted: “Sorry I don’t have time to reply to all of you commenting on this but I can confirm I’m not… A slag, Hungover, A tart, About to breastfeed, A slapper, Drunk, Just been banged over a wheelie bin.
“Who knew people could get so emotional over a shoulder…”
Shouldergate
On Friday Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long-Bailey defended Ms Brabin and criticised the levels of scrutiny faced by women politicians over their appearance.
“Women tend to get that scrutiny far more than men. It is routine for women in politics and in public life, unfortunately,” she told BBC Breakfast.
The dress listing on eBay reads: “Black dress worn by Tracy Brabin MP in ‘shouldergate’ as widely covered across the media.
“This is an ASOS dress which has been flying off the shelves as a result of the coverage – and is now sold out!
“All money raised will go to Girlguiding UK to support their work helping girls build confidence and self-esteem, in the hope that they grow up to be leaders.”
Related: Trade deal with Japan could lead to Fukushima food restrictions being dropped
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .