Vivienne Westwood red tartan wool and black velvet bias cut shorts, fw 1996
View Similar Items
Vivienne Westwood red tartan wool and black velvet bias cut shorts, fw 1996
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: Small (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU140212083182
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.
- Issey Miyake olive nylon parachute shorts, fw 1983By Issey MiyakeLocated in London, GBIssey Miyake; olive nylon oversized parachute shorts with paper bag elastic waistband, 2 front pockets and snap button fastenings around hem, allowing the shorts to be turned up or l...Category
1980s Japanese Shorts
- Vivienne Westwood navy wool striped hot pants, ss 1994By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GB▪ Vivienne Westwood navy wool hot pants ▪ 100% Wool ▪ Turquoise, teal, grey and white stripes ▪ Twelve gold Orb etched buttons ▪ IT 40 - FR 36 - UK 8 - US 4 ▪ Spring-Summer 1994Category
1990s Italian Shorts
- Vivienne Westwood "Mini Crini" blue printed button-down shorts, ss 1985By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBVivienne Westwood blue printed button-down shorts with ruffled elasticated leg and drawstring waist with small pocket on left side "Mini Crin" Spring-Summer 1985Category
1990s British Hot Pants
- Vivienne Westwood red checked tweed and black velvet skirt suit, fw 1991By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GB▪ Vivienne Westwood red checked tweed skirt suit ▪ 100% Wool ▪ Large orb etched buttons ▪ Large turn-over cuffs ▪ Black cotton velvet 'kick-out' skirt with tulle petticoat ▪ FR 38...Category
1990s British Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Dolce & Gabbana black spandex long sleeve mini dress, ss 1992By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB▪ Dolce & Gabbana mini dress ▪ Sold by One of a Kind Archive ▪ Jersey top with off-shoulder neckline and open back ▪ Figure-hugging mini skirt with lingerie-style satin panels and co...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vivienne Westwood black velvet mini skirt peplum suit, fw 1993By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBVivienne Westwood black velvet skirt suit. Ultra mini pencil skirt paired with a tailored blazer jacket with peplum and pleated ve...Category
1990s British Skirt Suits
- S/S 2016 Look # 12 NEW VERSACE MILITARY CAMOUFLAGE PRINTED SHORTS 42 - 6By VersaceLocated in Montgomery, TXVERSACE Collection Spring/Summer 2016 Look # 12 This Versace short features a tailored fit with side pockets, back slash pockets, and belt loops...Category
2010s Italian Shorts
$660 Sale Price20% Off - Vintage Lillie Rubin Sequin Shorts & Zip Sweatshirt Jacket Suit W Polka DotsBy Lillie RubinLocated in Portland, ORWe have two sets of this amazing vintage Lillie Rubin silk sequin short sets. The base color is black and the sequin polka dots are in bold shades of yellow, green, red, and purple....Category
1980s Indian Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
$348 Sale Price49% Off - Moschino Cheap & Chic Black Crepe Sailor ShortsBy Moschino, Moschino Cheap and ChicLocated in Los Angeles, CAMoschino cheap & chic black crepe sailor shorts Be retro cool in this vintage sailor shorts by Moschino! Show off your legs with these shorts paired with a black fitted blazer and h...Category
1990s Italian Shorts
- 1990S Rainbow Checkered Club Kid Biker ShortsLocated in New York, NY1990S Rainbow Checkered Club Kid Biker ShortsCategory
1990s Bermuda Shorts
- Jean Paul Gaultier short Brown Velvet pantsBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Laguna Beach, CAChocolatey brown velvet knee length shorts from vintage Jean Paul Gaultier. Two slit side pockets as well as two back pockets adorned with embroidery. A buckle at back allows you to ...Category
1990s French Shorts
$225 Sale Price50% Off - Jean Paul Gaultier Lace Pattern Sailor ShortBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Laguna Beach, CAVintage sailor style shorts from Jean Paul Gaultier feature a fabulous lace-like design, side zip and "double-breasted" functional buttons up the front.Category
1990s French Hot Pants
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Vivienne Westwood’s Punk Spirit Lives On in This ’90s Tartan Ensemble
The shorts suit in a mash-up of patterns with an asymmetrical cut speaks to the designer’s rebellious spirit.
This Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen Ensemble Is Part Zsa Zsa Gabor, Part ‘Blade Runner’
As Burton steps away from the brand, it’s a fitting time to revisit one of her visionary designs.