We start with the Vikings and the early frontiers of style. But soon the 'rules of fashion' become a force for control, with strict class laws governing everything from the colours you could wear, to the pointiness of your shoes.

Gender-defying fashionistas first started to capture the popular imagination in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare's plays see male actors dressing as female characters dressing as male characters. And rebellious Mary Frith defies gender norms winning a £20 bet by riding from Charing Cross to Shoreditch dressed as man.

We see the rise of the actress as a fashion icon in the 18th century. Frances Abington becomes known as the 'fashion doctor' and grows to fame as the first celebrity stylist. However, fears about working class people dressing above their station quickly become a national obsession.