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Labour MP Tracy Brabin auctioning dress that drew 'sexist' criticism to raise funds for charity
All money raised from the sale will be donated to Girlguiding UK
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Tracy Brabin is selling the off-the-shoulder dress that drew “sexist” criticism after she wore it in the House of Commons.
On Tuesday, the Labour MP was forced to defend her choice of attire after she received a wave of online abuse for dressing “inappropriately”.
One Twitter user shared a photograph of Brabin wearing the dress, which had slipped off her shoulder as she leaned against the despatch box due to a broken ankle.
The post prompted hundreds of replies, many of which referred to the shadow culture secretary as a “slapper”, “slut” and “tart”.
In response to the criticism, Brabin has now decided to sell the dress to help raise funds for charity on eBay.
The listing, which appeared online on Thursday, claims that the ASOS dress has been selling fast online as a result of the coverage and that any money raised will be donated to Girlguiding UK.
“Black dress worn by Tracy Brabin MP in ‘shouldergate’ as widely covered across the media,” the listing reads.
“This is an ASOS dress which has been flying off the shelves as a result of the coverage – and is now sold out!”
The listing continues: “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”.
So far, the dress has received 70 bids and stands at a total of £1,220. The listing will finish at 6pm on 13 February.
Brabin shared the listing on Twitter, writing: “Support @Girlguiding in their brilliant work inspiring young girls to become future leaders.”
The post has since been liked nearly 2,000 times and received hundreds of comments from social media users praising the MPs response to the “unwarranted criticism”.
“Not all heroes wear capes... some wear one shouldered LBDs from Asos”, one person wrote.
Another added: “Great to see you turning a so called “negative” into a “positive” keep up the good work”.
Following the backlash her outfit received, Brabin said she refused to “lose sleep” over the comments about her appearance and shared an unapologetic response on her Twitter account.
“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...”
During her appearance in the Commons, Brabin was raising a point of order on Downing Street’s decision to order senior journalists from some of the UK’s major news organisations to leave a briefing.
The MP later told the BBC the response was “sadly” routine and “another example of the everyday sexism women face”.
“They were playing top trumps on how rude they could be,” Brabin said.
“They are idiots and they are rude but I am not going to lose much sleep over them."
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