Vintage F/W 1990/91 Purple and Gold Portrait Corset
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 6 (UK)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3757221409572
Vivienne Westwood
For someone who regularly swats away the industry that made her, audacious British fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood certainly knows her way around a garment. And she knows how to provoke. “I don’t follow fashion,” Westwood once told the New York Times. “I’ve never been interested in it.”
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 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.
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’s dressed Kate Moss and Helena Bonham Carter, and a wedding dress that she created is featured in 2008’s Sex and the City film.
Today, the fires of political and environmental activism burn brightly for Westwood: She is 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 handbags, shoes, evening dresses and other items today on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Gucci Vintage S/S 2000 Black Vest TopBy Tom Ford for GucciLocated in London, GBWe are excited to present this vintage Tom Ford for Gucci Spring Summer 2000 black top. Features fine ribbed fabric, skinny straps and triangle chest accent in a bodycon fit. In exce...Category
Early 2000s Italian Shirts
- Vintage One-Shoulder Black Silk TopBy Tom Ford for GucciLocated in London, GBWe are excited to present this Tom Ford for Gucci one-shoulder black top. Features, asymmetric neckline, neck strap key-hole and sleeveless design in a stretch bodycon fit. In great ...Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses and Tops
- Vintage S/S 1993 Pop Floral HalterneckBy VersaceLocated in London, GBWe are excited to present this Versace Jeans Couture Spring Summer 1993 floral halter neck top. Features lapel and double breasted closure with medusa button. In excellent vintage co...Category
1990s Italian Blouses and Tops
- Vintage One Sleeve Green Silk TopBy Tom Ford for GucciLocated in London, GBWe are excited to present this Tom Ford for Gucci one sleeve green top. Features one long sleeve detail, neck keyhole detailing and stretch bodycon fit. In good vintage condition. B...Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses and Tops
- Vintage F/W 1997 Fight Racism T-shirtBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in London, GBWe are excited to present this vintage Jean Paul Gaultier Fall Winter 1997 t-shirt. Features ‘fight racism’ all over print with short sleeves. In excellent vintage condition. The sam...Category
1990s French T-Shirts
- Vintage 1992 Sock Shop BodysuitBy Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBWe are incredibly excited to present this Vivienne Westwood 1992 bodysuit. Features Orb embroidered on chest, short sleeves and round neckline. In excellent vintage condition. Authen...Category
1990s British T-Shirts
- CELINE BY HEDI SLIMANE 70's Inspired Monochrome ShirtBy CelineLocated in Berlin, BECeline by Heldi Slimane monochrome shirt. This 70s inspired shirt is made from a soft viscose and features a relaxed fit, black and white triangle pattern, a collared neckline, long cuffed sleeves and a front button closure. So typically Hedi Slimane in style - looks amazing styled under a clack suit or easily styled with black jeans and a leather jacket. Made in Italy Fabric: Viscose Size 38 Please refer to measurements below (measured flat and across) Shoulders 49.5cm Bust 57cm Waist 53cm This Celine monochrome...Category
2010s Italian Collars
- S/S 1991 Gianni Versace Vogue Pop Art Printed Silk ShirtBy Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in Concord, NCGianni Versace Vogue vintage multicolored printed pop art shirt from the Spring 1991 collection. Featuring the iconic Vogue print with Vogue magaz...Category
1990s Italian Shirts
- Jean Paul Gaultier BlouseBy Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil, Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Sharon, CTA Fuzzi series Air Brush style patterned image with abstract blue flowers on a white sheer base, combined with a Celtic decorative motif. No closures. 100% nylon.Category
Early 2000s Italian Blouses and Tops
- Chloe Blouse Military InspiredBy Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe, ChloéLocated in Sharon, CTRed, blue and grey Russian Suprematist inspired Military top.Category
1980s French Smocks
- CHRISTIAN DIOR & John Galliano Vintage Trotter Pencil Skirt Blue Denim 2002 Y2KBy John Galliano for Christian Dior, Christian DiorLocated in Алматинский Почтамт, KZCHRISTIAN DIOR & John Galliano Vintage Trotter Pencil Skirt Blue Denim 2002 John Galliano for Christian Dior Collection: Christian Dior 2002 Country of production: Portugal Christian Dior style: 2P12033139 Marked Size: FR 40 A cult vintage...Category
Early 2000s Portuguese Shirts
- Chanel & Karl Lagerfeld 11C 2011 cruise cashmere t-shirt top Barbie styleBy Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld for ChanelLocated in Алматинский Почтамт, KZChanel & Karl Lagerfeld 11C runway 2011 cruise cashmere t-shirt Barbie style Barbiecore Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld Collection: Cruise Collection 2011 Style: 2011 / P40297K02906 / MP277 Country of production: the United Kingdom of Great Britain Material: 100% Cashmere This cardigan was presented on the podium in a different color (Freja Beha Erichsen on the runway at Chanel's resort 2011 runway show at Senequier in Saint-Tropez), and it seems to me that this color is the most successful. So, a Chanel cashmere top...Category
2010s British Shirts