Vivienne Westwood Anglomania 2011 Glittery Silver Cocktail Dress
View Similar Items
Vivienne Westwood Anglomania 2011 Glittery Silver Cocktail Dress
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Length: 43 in (109.22 cm)Marked Size: 42 (UK)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 28 in (71.12 cm)Hip: 40 in (101.6 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Cloverdale, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU587665281
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.
- FE ZANDI Silver Lace Lame Gown with Scalloped Edges Size 8-10By Fe ZandiLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis Fe Zandi gown is composed of a silver lame lace with scalloped edges. Features a draped neckline with sheer sleeve. There is a center back zipper closure, horse hair hem, and ...Category
20th Century American Evening Gowns
- Dolce & Gabbana Dress Striking Silver Rear Swarovski Zipper Pull 40 / 6By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Miami, FLDolce&Gabbana rare dress that was sold out in the stores. This treasure was worn one time only. Silver gray fabric with fabulous texture and a metallic f...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Cocktail Dresses
- 1960 Bill Blass Documented Floral Print Silver Brocade Gown W/Rhinestone BeltBy Bill BlassLocated in Gresham, OR1960 Bill Blass Documented Floral Print Silver Brocade Gown W/Rhinestone Belt. Wild botanical print border design is stunning! Beige silk taffeta lining, large balloon sleeves w/ broad cuffs. Rhinestone buckle belt with a full long maxi skirt...Category
1960s American Evening Dresses
- BADGLEY MISCHKA Silver Beaded Lace and Satin Gown Size 10By BADGLEY MISHCKALocated in Los Angeles, CAThis Badgley Mischka dgown is composed of a silver lace with satin skirt, and a beaded bodice. Features a sheer lace metallic sleeves. There is a center back zipper closure. In excel...Category
20th Century Italian Evening Gowns
- ESTEVEZ Silver Sequin and Velvet Gown Peplum Size 2By EstevezLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis Estevez gown is composed of a black velvet with silver sequin applique. Features a peplum style waist with structured shoulders. There is a center back zipper closure. In excell...Category
20th Century American Evening Gowns
- 1990s Janine of London Lillie Rubin Silver Grey Metallic Crushed Velvet DressBy Lillie Rubin, Janine of LondonLocated in San Diego, CASexy 90s JANINE OF LONDON for LILLIE RUBIN silver gray crushed velvet metallic bodycon dress! Features the softest crushed velvet that stretches to fit. Has what first appears to be ...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses
$746 Sale Price25% Off