SEDITIONARIES
View Similar Items
SEDITIONARIES
About the Item
- Designer:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:GOOD.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AAU1205223274D
Vivienne Westwood
For someone who regularly swatted away the industry that made her, audacious British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood certainly knew her way around a garment. And she knew how to provoke. “I don’t follow fashion,” Westwood once told the New York Times. “I’ve never been interested in it.” Collectors are certainly interested in her work, and vintage Vivienne Westwood dresses, handbags, lingerie and jackets have become very desirable over the years.
Westwood was born Vivienne Isabel Swire in a village in Derbyshire, in central England, but moved to London as a teen. In the early 1960s, she began to make her own necklaces and other jewelry and met an artist, activist and entrepreneur named Malcolm McLaren. They became involved romantically and she made clothes for him in the style of the Teddy Boys — the city’s music-crazed, occasionally violent teenagers at the time who wore high-waisted trousers and tailored velvet blazers that drew on Edwardian-era fashions.
Westwood and McLaren opened a vintage shop on King’s Road in London in 1971. The flared denim and peasant blouses of the 1960s, then still popular with the “peace and love” set, didn’t hold any weight for Westwood. Instead, she was interested in provocative, edgy apparel. She repaired used clothing and endeavored to create bold new designs from scratch.
Together Westwood and McLaren sold older rock-and-roll records, customized T-shirts with antiestablishment slogans, biker jackets and snug trousers inspired by the Marlon Brando film The Wild One as well as bondage fetish wear. The shop, once called Let It Rock and then Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die before Sex became a more appropriate moniker, evolved into a youth mecca. The DIY garments — zippered tops, burnt tees emblazoned with anarchist messages — flew off the shelves. More notably, it brought punk to the masses.
Westwood was soon dressing the Sex Pistols, a band that McLaren managed, all the while bridging the gap between music and fashion in a manner that has reverberated throughout the industry for decades.
In 1981, the couple’s first fashion show marked the debut of their Pirate collection — a swashbuckler-themed line that sprang from Westwood’s research into Indigenous Americans and the “power garments” of the Louis XIV era. The collection’s ample proportions and cutting-edge tailoring countered punk’s geometry and tight latex fits as well as what rocker Adam Ant called the “Puritanism” that plagued England at the time. The Pirate collection’s enduring influence on the world of fashion as well as the theatrical work of designers such as John Galliano and Alexander McQueen is undeniable.
For the colorful corsets of her 1990 Portrait collection, Westwood drew on 18th-century oil paintings — her models donned the pearl necklaces that have become a social media star and a favorite of influencers and fashion lovers all over the world. For a jacket-and-shorts suit from her Fall/Winter 1996–97 Storm in a Teacup line, the designer used the extreme asymmetry of a tartan mash-up to confront, according to Westwood, “the horror of uniformity and minimalism.”
The self-taught Westwood enjoyed a rapid ascent in fashion, with British society embracing her looks and Vogue immortalizing them in its glossy pages. She garnered accolades for introducing corsets to the runway and dressed Kate Moss and Helena Bonham Carter. And an original Vivienne Westwood wedding dress is featured in 2008’s Sex and the City film.
The fires of political and environmental activism burned brightly for Westwood: She was a Greenpeace ambassador, having designed the organization’s official “Save the Arctic” logo; her clothing brand is committed to using recycled canvas and other eco-friendly materials in the production process; and in 2020, she protested the extradition of Julian Assange by suspending herself in a bird cage outside London’s Old Bailey court. But she will always be the grande dame of British design.
Find an extraordinary range of vintage Vivienne Westwood shirts, shoes, gowns and other items today on 1stDibs.
- Issac Mizrahi Red Plaid Crop Party TopBy Isaac MizrahiLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Isaac Mizrahi crop top featuring a red, white and place plaid print, cross Mizrahi Size: Smal...Category
Early 2000s Indonesian Crop Tops
- Balenciaga Black Asymmetrical Sweater With White Stitching 2002By BalenciagaLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage Balenciaga by Nicolas Ghesquiere black wool short sleeve sweater featuring contrasting white stitching, a scoop neckli...Category
Early 2000s French Shirts
- Comme Des Garcons Black Red & Grey Printed Lace Top 2000By Comme des GarçonsLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Comme des Garcons black stretch lace top featuring a high collar, long sleeves, and red, black, and grey screenprint on lace. Com...Category
Early 2000s Japanese Shirts
- Junya Watanabe Burgundy Deco Print Parachute Top 2003By Junya WatanabeLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Junya Watanabe black faux suede new hippie top featuring cutout armholes, extra long sleeves, slash front panel, fringe cuffs, and ...Category
Early 2000s Japanese Shirts
- Dolce & Gabbana Black & Gold Multi Bow Corset Top 2009By Dolce & Gabbana, D&G by DOLCE & GABBANALocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Dolce & Gabbana D&G black corset top featuring large gold bows, deconstructed styling, boning and center back zipper. Dolce & Gabb...Category
Early 2000s Italian Shirts
- Dolce & Gabbana Brown Lace Top With Red Python Trim 2005By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Dolce & Gabbana brown lace top with red python trim featuring a notched collar, a slight puff at the shoulder of the sleeve, and a ...Category
Early 2000s Italian Shirts
- Rare 1991 Gianni Versace Embroidered Shell BusterBy Gianni VersaceLocated in New York, NYRare 1991 Gianni Versace Embroidered Shell Buster. Shell cups densely embroidered with red bugle beads; cobalt and clear rhinestone striatio...Category
1990s Italian Bustiers
- D&G Dolce & Gabbana Tube Top With “Vancouver” LogoBy D&G by DOLCE & GABBANALocated in Hoffman Estates, ILDescription: D&G tube top with Vancouver logo. Specifications: Size MCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Strapless Tops
$540 Sale Price20% Off - GUCCI RTW FW 2009 silk lurex ShirtBy GucciLocated in Genève, CHFabulous silk metallic shirt from Gucci Fall 2009 RTW Collection designed by Frida Giannini -Metallic fabric double effect in grey and purple -Closed ...Category
Early 2000s Italian Chemises
$397 Sale Price20% Off - JEAN PAUL GAULTIER Maille turquoise mesh shirt Y2KBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Genève, CHJean-Paul Gaultier semi-sheer mesh top -Maille Femme collection -Made in Italy -Circa 1995-2005 -100% Polyamid -Estimated size: 36 FR to 40 FR (marke...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French T-Shirts
- JEAN PAUL GAULTIER 1990 fringed denim shirt - part of a setBy Gaultier JeansLocated in Genève, CHBlue denim shirt with fringe trim by Jean Paul Gaultier, wear yours with the matching skirt. -Frayed fringe details along seams and hems -Metal lo...Category
1990s Italian Chemises
- Colllector JEAN PAUL GAULTIER Asian mesh shirtBy Jean Paul Gaultier, Jean Paul Gaultier SoleilLocated in Genève, CHRare Jean Paul Gaultier Early 00s mesh T-Shirt with vibrant Asian print, as seen on Beyoncé for InStyle Magazine (May 2003) shot by Fabrizio Ferri....Category
21st Century and Contemporary French T-Shirts