Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood was a major influence on punk culture and this was emphasised throughout her designs and collections. As previously stated, Westwood opened ‘Let it Rock’ in the 70s, a store which sold second hand 1950s vintage clothing. Alongside this, they also sold “customised T-shirts, which were ripped and emblazoned with shocking anti-establishment slogans and graphics” (encyclopaedia Britannica)(3).In 1981, Westwood and Mclaren produced their first ready-to-wear collection ‘pirates’ (fig .5) which stirred up the right wing’s press due to the collection’s flamboyant nature and subversion of the ‘normal and clean’ fashion of the time. The collection was also part of neo-romanticism and deemed as too costumey. 

Iconically, in her career, Westwood has created many collections and even more designs, including the 1976/7 ‘God Save the Queen’ t-shirt (Fig .6). Crafted by Westwood, McLaren and Jamie Reid, this shirt embodies the punk movement with its cheeky and daring nature. Nowadays the construction of the shirt isn't so revolutionary. Still, during the 70s, this was against the norm as the silhouette wasn't ideal and the lack of undergarments was deemed inappropriate as nipples could be seen, which Westwood testifies to in her autobiography, perfectly encapsulating the punk essence. The cotton and metal ensemble is described as “a white, long-sleeve t-shirt with distressed elements and a bold graphic on the front” (Cecilia Wolf)(4) and detail-wise the garment features raw edge hemlines,oval-like cutouts at the inner shoulder and is embellished with metal hardware down the outer arms. The feature of the garment is the graphic which has been created by Jamie Reid, it pictures another icon, the late Queen Elizabeth II with a staple punk accessory, a safety pin, across her mouth. Surrounding this portrait is some typography, more specifically, the logo and lyrics from the ‘Sex Pistols’ song ‘God Save the Queen’ as mentioned earlier. Contextually, this piece was made in 1977 which was also the year of the Queen's silver jubilee, in the punk realm that summer became known as the ‘summer of hate’ as English nationalism was everywhere due to the celebrations. Westwood, “who wished to confront the rotten status quo” (Vivienne Westwood)(5) does so through this piece “as it directly challenges the ideas of England’s monarchy with its graphic ridiculing the queen”.(Cecilia Wolf)(4) Similar to Westwood herself, this shirt holds a legacy and influenced the fashion scene massively with designers like Alexander McQueen reimagining it in his 2008 fall collection. The garment now has a permanent home at The Costume Institute as a part of their ‘PUNK: chaos to couture’ exhibition.