Archival 1994 Vivienne Westwood Pinstripe Wool Jacket and High-Low Trained Skirt
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. beautiful condition.
- Seller Location:Beverly Hills, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU30921274062
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: Beverly Hills, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Vintage 1970s Travilla Ivory Chiffon & Lace Illusion Dolman Sleeve Bridal DressBy William Travilla, TravillaLocated in Beverly Hills, CAExtremely chic late 1970's ivory silk-chiffon and rose-print lace bridal dress from the iconic Travilla label. William Travilla designed costumes for...Category
1970s American Wedding Dresses
- Iconic 1999 Thierry Mugler Documented Sapphire Blue Silk Corset Strapless GownBy Thierry MuglerLocated in Beverly Hills, CAAn iconic and well documented Thierry Mugler 1999 fall-winter sapphire blue silk corset strapless gown with original $6500 price tag attached. With inflation, that would be over $15,000 today. This legendary French fashion designer is known for bold fashion and edgy, sometimes even campy, theatricality. Though Mugler stopped designing his couture and ready-to-wear lines in 2003 to focus on photography and costume design, his work has a lasting legacy. This seductive sapphire blue dress...Category
1990s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Vintage 1977 Bill Gibb White Eyelet Cotton & Jersey Low Plunge Maxi Wrap DressBy Bill GibbLocated in Beverly Hills, CAEthereal Bill Gibb of London documented designer maxi dress dating back to his documented 1977 spring-summer collection. His pieces are very collec...Category
1970s English Aesthetic Day Dresses
- Rare 2005 Roberto Cavalli Large-Scale Floral Silk Bustier High-Slit Gown & ShawlBy Roberto CavalliLocated in Beverly Hills, CAA highly coveted and breathtakingly beautiful Roberto Cavalli colorful large-scale floral print silk bustier floor-length gown and matching shawl dating back to his 2005 spring/summe...Category
Early 2000s Italian Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Vintage 1930's Floral Garden Silk Bouquet Appliqué Couture Old Hollywood GownLocated in Beverly Hills, CAThe breathtaking rich red and maroon watercolor deco floral print used on this late 1930's silk gown has a striking allure that I find irresistible. The elegant bodice has a low plun...Category
1930s American Wedding Dresses
- Vintage 1930s Marigold Floral Garden Print Silk Flutter-Sleeve Ruffle Maxi DressLocated in Beverly Hills, CAThe vibrant marigold floral garden print used on this 1930's 'Ryder's of Philadelphia' designer silk maxi dress has a fresh innocence that I find irresistible. The bodice has a fanta...Category
1930s North American Aesthetic Day Dresses
- Mariano Fortuny Amethyst Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated amythest colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording. Named after a Greek cla...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Extremely Rare Mariano Fortuny Cotton DelphosBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis extraordinarily rare dress is made of finely pleated white cotton. Few cotton pleated Fortuny dresses have been documented and survived.
Named after a Greek clas...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
- Mariano Fortuny Rare Shell Pink Long Sleeved Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYDescription: This dress is made of finely pleated shell pink colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Mariano Fortuny Black Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Mariano Fortuny Black Delphos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated black colored silk with silk cording along side seams, and multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
Named after a ...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Delphos Gowns
Mariano Fortuny Sienna Peplos GownBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYThis dress is made of finely pleated sienna colored silk with silk cording along side seams,shoulders and tunic hem with multicolored glass beads threaded through the cording.
...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Peplos
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 Two-Piece Beaded Gown by Puerto Rican Designer David Fernandez Is the Embodiment of 1970s Glam
On the Met Gala red carpet, this vintage ensemble would bring the heat.