Alexander Mcqueen Houndstooth Blouse

British fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen, the original creative engine behind the Alexander McQueen label, was beloved for his expert tailoring and theatrical runway shows. After his suicide in 2010, fans left tributes to the man and his talents outside Alexander McQueen boutiques worldwide. Record-breaking crowds visited the posthumous retrospective of the designer’s work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Victoria and Albert in London.

The inspirations for vintage Alexander McQueen bags, dresses, jackets and other items came from many quarters — film, music, current events, history, his heritage and fashions of the past. The designer's runway presentations were not just displays of clothing but were personal expressions of the zeitgeist, often touching on our cultural anxieties and concerns. McQueen’s own thoughts and feelings about love, death, gender, genocide, colonialism, global warming and the extinction of species all appear in his pieces.

McQueen certainly shook up fashion; he was a born Rottweiler. His upbringing on a council estate in north London played a part, but his family was close and supportive, not dysfunctional. He was proud of his Scottish heritage: He was a defiant fashion warrior. His historical themes and shows — such as “Highland Rape,” 2002, which was inspired by England’s “rape of Scotland,” as McQueen called it — always invoked powerful reactions from his audience of fashion pros.

“What you see in the work is the person himself. And my heart is in my work,” McQueen told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007.

It is perhaps this heart, and the heart’s exposure, that drew the crowds and made McQueen's creations both popular and emotionally resonant. Because the work was personal and thus layered with feeling, the motifs — decorative embellishments and fabric choices — have meaning. In other words, in McQueen’s oeuvre, plaid is more than simply a pattern.

Find vintage Alexander McQueen fashion and accessories — including the designer's coveted bags and comfortable, stretchy jersey knit dresses and gowns — on 1stDibs.

The term “blouse” may commonly refer to women’s clothing, but it has been used to refer to men’s garments at different points in history. The word originates from the term once used to describe the loose-fitting shirts that Frenchmen wore to work. Today, all kinds of vintage and designer blouses remain popular for everyday wear.

Designers made blouses more feminine in the early 1900s by embellishing them with embroidery and lace collars. The Gibson Girl blouse — named for a widely influential pen-and-ink drawing by American illustrator Charles Dana Gibson — added pleats, tucks and puffed sleeves. This made the blouse more stylish and fitted, which was appealing to women of all shapes and sizes.

Men’s white dress shirts informed the design of women’s blouses, including their buttons and collars. For women’s blouses, there are many more collar choices compared to men’s options. Popular styles include the Peter Pan, open spade and reversed collar.

Designers often make blouses from lightweight materials like silk and thin cotton. More affordable options are made with fabrics like polyester. While historically blouses were very plain, they can now be found in many vibrant prints and styles.

Through their evolution from workwear to everyday fashion, silk blouses are now a staple of modern style. Along with contemporary designs, vintage garments can sometimes be customized to fit any style.

Find a collection of vintage and designer blouses on 1stDibs.