Vivienne Westwood white jersey Conduit Street corset, ss 2002
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 14 (UK)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU140215702612
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Vivienne Westwood Toile de Jouy cotton corset, ss 1996By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GB▪ Vivienne Westwood white cotton corset ▪ Blue 'Toile de Jouy' print ▪ Boned stomacher ▪ Matching printed overlay with lace-up fastening and fold-over collar ▪ String ties on the s...Category
1990s English Corsets
- Vivienne Westwood grey corset with Thomas Gainsborough dog print, fw 1992By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GB▪ Rare Vivienne Westwood grey corset top ▪ Dog print from a detail of Thomas Gainsborough's - Tristam and Fox c. 1775–85 ▪ Red bow applique ▪ Centre-back ...Category
1990s British Corsets
- Vivienne Westwood lace screen printed denim corset and jeans, fw 1992By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBVivienne Westwood lace screen printed denim corset and high rise slim jeans Fall-Winter 1992Category
1990s British Corsets
- Prada by Miuccia Prada grey and green crocheted wool bra top, fw 2017By Miuccia Prada, PradaLocated in London, GB▪ Prada knitted bra top ▪ Designed by Miuccia Prada ▪ Crocheted grey, green and black pure new wool ▪ Bow detail at the centre-front ▪ Snap-button closure...Category
2010s Italian Bras
- Vivienne Westwood white and grey checked corset, ss 1994By Vivienne WestwoodLocated in London, GBVivienne Westwood white and grey checked corset - designed to cinch the waist and push the breasts up. Spring-Summer 1994Category
1990s British Corsets
- Balmain by Christophe Decarnin black leather safety-pin corset, ss 2011By BalmainLocated in London, GB▪ Balmain black leather safety-pin corset ▪ Designed by Christophe Decarnin ▪ Adorned with silver metal barbell piercings and safety-pins ▪ Patch...Category
2010s French Corsets
- Art Deco Floral Batiste GownLocated in New York, NYCharming Art Deco Floral Batiste Gown from the 1930's. Soft cotton floral batiste is bias cut with scalloped blue edges, pin tucks and panels of hand m...Category
1930s American Lingerie
- 1940s Vintage Housecoat Quilted Hostess Robe in White Red & Yellow Floral Size 6Located in Portland, ORThis quilted vintage floral, pale pink 1940s house coat is stunning in person. This gorgeous robe is lined in red, trimmed in red, and has a beautiful red sash. Approximately a size...Category
1940s American Robes
- Lolita Lempicka Floral Embroidered Bustier 2000By Lolita LempickaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Lolita Lempicka black bustier corset top with floral embroidery, beading and black satin ribbon laces in the back, and silk lining....Category
Early 2000s French Corsets
- Gucci S/S 2012 Runway Sheer Plunging Neckline Cutout Ivory Bodysuit TopBy GucciLocated in Naples, FLGucci S/S 2012 Runway Sheer Plunging Neckline Cutout Ivory Bodysuit Top Size IT 42 Featured in multiple looks on the Spring 2012 Runway.Category
2010s Lingerie
- French Pale Slate Blue 1930s Silk GownLocated in New York, NYSuper unusual 1930s French pale slate blue silk crepe and silk satin long gown. Silk satin philodendron leaf appligue on bodice, and satin waist insert with long satin self ties at t...Category
1930s French Slips
- 1990s Valentino Floral Georgette Lingerie SetBy Valentino IntimoLocated in London, GBThis 1990s Valentino lingerie set features a floral and lace trimmed slip dress and a matching dressing gown with floaty sleeves, both in a beautifully so...Category
1990s American Negligees
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.