Alexander Mcqueen Skull Pants

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 pants chosen for an outfit can elevate it to a true fashion triumph. From casual black trousers to a wedding pantsuit, there is a good pair of vintage or designer pants for every wardrobe.

Jeans are a staple of casual wear — an old pair of Levi’s 501s and a white tee remain an iconic duo. But jeans can also make a statement. The cut and fit of one’s jeans can complement a figure and accentuate a style. Bootcut or skinny jeans can be paired with looser shirts and blouses; more fitted tops can play with wider legs such as bell-bottoms or flares. (This will come as no surprise to the younger millennials leading the resurrection of 1990s fashion.) Vintage denim gives an outfit a classic look, while designer jeans, like a pair from Versace, can prove provocative as part of any ensemble.

Pantsuits are a stylized suit with pants and a matching jacket worn by women in business and semiformal settings. Vintage pantsuits and jumpsuits — in which the pants and top are one piece — come in a variety of styles and cuts for every body shape and occasion. Today many designers create fashionable pantsuits that can be worn to glamorous events.

Whether long or short, casual or formal, vintage and designer pants and other clothing on 1stDibs will have the perfect fit.