Vivienne Westwood: The Corset
This article felt right to write after spending some time online shopping for some t-shirts for the springtime and realising that corset-inspired clothing is back! Humans go to extraordinary lengths to refashion their bodies. We exaggerate, suppress, sculpt and lift to conform to aesthetic ideals. The corset, an integral piece of underwear for women between the 16th and 20th centuries, is just one example of how we've achieved these ideals. Of course, it is most commonly associated with minimalism waste because of this influence on a woman's body. It's one of the most controversial garments in fashion history, so. Why are we still wearing them?
Vivienne Westwood is one of the most iconic designers in fashion history. Nonconformist, eccentric, brilliant, talented, she has always followed her instinct. She revolutionised her future and the meaning of the word style. Westwood's love of art and corsets is shown in the Portrait collection. The inspiration comes directly from the Wallace collection of 18th-century French paintings and decorative arts.
The artwork caused quite a stir when Boucher painted it in 1743 because of its intimate portrayal of a couple.
Westwood, A master of subversion, honed in on the erotic section of the painting and inserted it into the central panel of the corset. This corset is from her Spring-Summer 1990 portrait collection, bringing fashion and art together in one place. This has inspired a wealth of creative talent from fashion designers. Westwood doesn't copy past fashions. She reinterprets them, creating a history of her own. In the past, some women protested wearing corsets due to health concerns. Westwood took the notion of the garment, signifying oppression and again subverted it. She transformed the corset from bespoke underwear into a ready to wear fashion item styled as outerwear and empowered a fashion statement on display for all to see.
Still, on that corset note, another piece worth mentioning is the iconic wedding dress Carrie Bradshaw wore in Sex and the City. Yes, that one where Big decided not to show up to his wedding! I still think about that dress! The "cloud dress" debuted in Westwood's Winter 2007/2008 collection. The strapless gown featured two different colours of material: The corset top was made from gold-backed ivory silk satin duchess. At the same time, the skirt was crafted from ivory silk Radzimir taffeta. It was indeed one of the most magnificent pieces I've ever seen from the television series (yes, I'm a SATC stan!).
