Object: Set
Designer:
Vivienne Westwood
(British, 1941 - 2022)
Designer:
Malcolm McLaren
(1946 - 2010)
Retailer:
Worlds End
(British, founded 1970)
Date: Fall 1981
Medium: Cotton
Country: England
Credit Line: Gift of Barbara Hodes
Object number: 87.52.5
DescriptionMagenta red / purple, navy blue and yellow woven striped cotton tunic; two-piece roll collar; slit neckline; front and back gathered into collar seam; straight-line; side vents; long sleeve gathered at cap and into one button cuff. Magenta, navy blue and yellow woven striped cotton pants; hemmed waistband turned down at center front; straightleg with tapered cuff; 36 cm. bottoms; stylized slant pocket left and right side hip; fly front zipper, one button closure. Black cotton wide tube sash with double pointed, self tasseled ends.
Label Text:Today, Vivienne Westwood is considered the “Grand Dame” of British fashion. She began her career selling audacious Punk styles during the 1970s. In the following decade, Westwood’s growing interest in historic dress and complex garment construction took her work in a new, more fashionable direction. The set shown on the right is from 1981, when the designer presented her first runway collection, Pirates. It is paired with one of her menswear looks: a man's suit from 1980 dressed with a top from 1991 (88.63.8 and 2001.44.10).
Exhibitions:
- London Fashion
- Fashion, A-Z: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum at FIT (Part Two)
- Vivienne Westwood 1980-1989
- Exhibitionism: 50 Years of the Museum at FIT