Iconic Vivienne Westwood Boucher Mini Dress From The Portrait Collection c.1990
View Similar Items
Iconic Vivienne Westwood Boucher Mini Dress From The Portrait Collection c.1990
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: S (UK)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1402907622
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.
- Christian Dior by John Galliano equestrian printed silk scarf dress, ss 2000By Christian Dior, John Galliano for Christian DiorLocated in London, GB▪ Important Christian Dior evening dress ▪ Designed by John Galliano ▪ Equestrian printed silk twill in pink and yellow with an ivory base ▪ Tan leather strap at the neck ▪ Open bac...Category
Early 2000s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Alexander McQueen striped cotton and lace dress with pleated skirt, ss 2005By Alexander McQueenLocated in London, GB▪ Alexander McQueen dress ▪ Constructed from a fine cotton-silk fabric in two colour-ways of red, cream and blue stripes ▪ Ivory lace inserts and trim ▪ Low-waisted skirt made up of...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Christian Dior by John Galliano floral silk and lace draped dress, fw 2005By Christian Dior, John Galliano for Christian DiorLocated in London, GB▪ Christian Dior dress ▪ Designed by John Galliano ▪ Apricot floral printed silk chiffon ▪ Velvet trim ▪ Lace bust ▪ Draped skirt ▪ Spaghetti straps ▪ Fabric buttons at the side ...Category
Early 2000s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Prada by Miuccia Prada orange silk chiffon slip dress, fw 1996By Miuccia PradaLocated in London, GB▪ Rare Prada evening slip dress ▪ Designed by Miuccia Prada ▪ Fine silk chiffon with geometric print in orange, brown and cream ▪ Sold with a matching Prada nude silk slip dress t...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana pink crepe halter-neck skater dress, ss 1995By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB▪ Dolce & Gabbana pink crepe skater dress ▪ 79% Acetate, 21% Rayon ▪ Nipping in at the waist and flaring out into a full skirt ▪ Halter-neck with string fastening ▪ Concealed zipper...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Jean Paul Gaultier multicoloured floral silk halterneck dress, ss 2001By Jean Paul GaultierLocated in London, GB▪ Jean Paul Gaultier halterneck silk dress ▪ Enlarged multicoloured floral print ▪ Accordion pleated bust with halterneck ties ▪ Nude accordion pleated silk chiffon shoulder straps...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Burberry Cotton Dress in BeigeBy BurberryLocated in Carnate, ITBurberry Cotton Dress in Beige Burberry dress. Missing composition label. We think it's cotton. Classic color of the English brand. Double-breasted closure, ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Day Dresses
- Missoni sleeveless pink beige blue white grey knit knitted flare maxi gown dressBy MissoniLocated in Paris, FRLook 8 from Missoni Fall 2011 Missoni sleeveless floor length dress with a fitted upper and flared skirt Missoni knit in varying shades of dusky pink, beige, blue, white and grey Raw...Category
2010s Italian Maxi Dresses
$2,198 Sale Price20% Off - D&G Vintage Leopard Mini DressBy D&G by DOLCE & GABBANALocated in Milano, ITSexy vintage dress designed by Dolce & Gabbana in the 1990s, made in Italy. ORIGINAL LABEL. The dress is a mini dress, reaching above the knee. It h...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses
$747 Sale Price20% Off - Prada Sport Cargo Military Tactical Vintage 90s 80s Khaki Brown Skirt Top DressBy PradaLocated in PARIS, FRTactical set by Prada! Skirt + sweater! Prada signatures on the sweater and the skirt as well. Red label. The sweater has a belt with metal buckles. The skirt has 2 zippers, you can...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Dresses
- Jean Paul Gaultier Floral Flower Supreme Rose Pink Mesh Mini Top Skirt DressBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in PARIS, FRFloral tattoo mesh dress by Jean Paul Gaultier! This is the original collection which was tributed by Supreme :) VERY GOOD condition! It can be worn as a mini dress or a midi high ...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses
- Jean Paul Gaultier Optical Illusion Neon Striped Kim Kardashian Mesh Maxi DressBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in PARIS, FRIconic Optical Illusion mesh dress by Jean Paul Gaultier!!!! 1997 Spring Summer collection! One of the most iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier Prints, initially showed at Spring-Summer 1997 collection, which is now a part of MET Costume Institute’s Archive and celebrities’ most prominent statement looks - from Janelle Monae...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses