Dame Vivienne Westwood has passed away at the age of 81

Vivienne Westwood, bridal 2022

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Ready-to-wear

“If in doubt, dress up. Don’t ever dress down – you’ll be so disappointed.” 

Farewell to fashion visionary, doyenne of punk, iconoclast and provocateur, environmental activist, true eccentric British original and Tintwistle, Cheshire’s finest export, Dame Vivienne Westwood (8 April 1941 – 29 December 2022). Who else would rock up to Buckingham Palace in an exquisitely tailored suit to collect her OBE medal (like she did in 1992) – and then afterward twirl for photographers to reveal she was wearing no panties beneath? What other designer would urge the public to buy less clothes? As a punk fanatic steeped in the lore of the Sex Pistols, making a pilgrimage to the hallowed ground of Westwood’s World’s End boutique on King’s Road (with the sloping, creaking floor) when I first moved to London in 1992 was de rigueur. The shirt I wanted wasn’t in stock in my size so the salesperson sent me to the Bond Street branch, where I was served by fabulous platinum blonde cougar Jibby Beane (teetering around in extreme fetish heels and wearing a long white lace gown so sheer you could see her matching white push-up bra and thong beneath). When Beane stood behind me in the mirror and gushed that I looked “so cavalier”, she could have persuaded me to buy used tea bags emblazoned with the Westwood orb logo. The shirt cost £75 which seemed astronomical at the time. Of course, I still wear it on special occasions to this day (even on job interviews). And of course, I hung onto the bag for ages! I was always envious of friends and colleagues who’d casually remark they used to regularly spot Westwood cycling around South London with her vivid orange hair flying. I only fleetingly encountered her once: at a Christeene gig downstairs at the Soho Theatre a few years ago. Ripples of excitement went through the crowd when Westwood and her entourage arrived. Everyone knew they were in the presence of greatness!

Richard E. Grant attends Dame Vivienne Westwood’s memorial service at Southwark Cathedral, in a hat she gave him in 1994 .. photograph by David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock ..

RIP to the best fashion designer to ever walk the earth

DAME VIVIENNE WESTWOOD (1941-Died December 29th 2022,at 81).English fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.Westwood came to public notice when she made clothes for the boutique that she and Malcolm McLaren ran on King's Road, which became known as SEX. Their ability to synthesise clothing and music shaped the 1970s UK punk scene which was dominated by McLaren's band, the Sex Pistols. She viewed punk as a way of "seeing if one could put a spoke in the system".Westwood opened four shops in London and eventually expanded throughout Britain and the world, selling an increasingly varied range of merchandise, some of which promoted her many political causes such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, climate change and civil rights groups.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer, dies aged 81

Dame Vivienne Westwood died peacefully surrounded by her family in Clapham, South London, today, her representatives said in a statement.

The 81-year-old’s husband and creative partner, Andreas Kronthaler, said: “I will continue with Vivienne in my heart.

“We have been working until the end and she has given me plenty of things to get on with.

In honour of Dame Vivienne Westwood’s memorial today

81 years of being a bad bitch.

The Mother of Punk is gone, but her fashion legacy is eternal 👑🖤

DAME VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 1941 - 2022

The happiest of birthdays in the afterlife to Vivienne Westwood!

Vivienne Westwood, bridal 2022

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Coutoure collection

vivienne westwood betty mini handbags

💔 😢 Dame Vivienne Westwood 😢💔

I just can't believe it. You will be missed vivienne, you will forever live in the legacy you created for yourself. A true icon of fashion and amazing human being has left us today.