Vivienne Westwood Red Label Turquoise Leopard Print Dress with Built In Corset
View Similar Items
Vivienne Westwood Red Label Turquoise Leopard Print Dress with Built In Corset
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 46 in (116.84 cm)Marked Size: M (EU)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)Hip: 41 in (104.14 cm)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Cloverdale, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU586302002
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.
- Jean Muir Emerald Green Viscose Jersey Cocktail DressBy Jean MuirLocated in New York, NYJean Muir emerald green jersey cocktail dress with long wrap sash. Sash may also be worn as long scarf around neck, and tied at lower back. Front of dress has asymmetrical pleating. ...Category
Late 20th Century British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- WILLIAM PEARSON Designer Vintage Floral Green Dress Ribbon Ruffle Off Shoulder 8Located in Asheville, NCWilliam Pearson, Floral Pattern, Double Layered Lining, Could be off Shoulder or on Shoulder, Satin Ribbon Tie in Back, Satin Ribbon Along Bottom, Full Skirt, Ribbed Top Material, Zi...Category
1980s Evening Dresses and Gowns
$360 Sale Price20% Off - Versace Silk Floral Print Pop Art Medusa Coin Strap Bustier Bodycon DressBy Donatella Versace, VersaceLocated in Chicago, ILDesigned by Donatella Versace circa early 2000's. Vibrant color palette of overlapping green and orange tones. Graphic floral print is collaged as visual art and includes larger gree...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Dolce & Gabbana, Draped dress in greenBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in AMSTERDAM, NLDolce & Gabbana, Draped dress in green. The item is in very good condition. • CONDITION: very good condition • SIZE: IT38 - XXS • MEASUREMENTS: length 94 cm, width 40 cm, waist 2...Category
2010s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Galanos for Amen Wardy 1980s Green Velvet Belted DressBy GalanosLocated in Scottsdale, AZMake a bold statement with our Galanos for Amen Wardy Green Velvet Belted Dress—a luxurious and vibrant piece that captures the essence of 1980s fashion. This seafood green crushed v...Category
1980s Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Paul Daunay Couture green floral silk cocktail dress, circa 1952-57By Paul DaunayLocated in London, GBPresenting an exquisite and exceptionally rare Paul Daunay cocktail dress, a true treasure dating back to circa 1952-57. Crafted with finesse, this dress boasts a fine silk fabric ad...Category
1950s French Evening Dresses and Gowns