Terms and conditions of use
Dress Rock
1981 {Savage collection, spring-summer 1982}
Medium
cotton, leather, metal (buckles)
Measurements
(a) 114.5 cm (centre back) 39.5 cm (waist, flat) (dress)
(b-c) 15.0 × 25.5 × 8.5 cm (shoes) (each)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Robyn Beeche, 1992
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
‘I realised after Pirate that I didn’t have to qualify my ideas. I could do anything I liked; it was only a question of how I did it
that would make it original. I realised then that I could go on
forever.’ – Westwood, 1987
Following the breakthrough of Pirate, Westwood entered a decade of bold experimentation. Her 1980s collections combined inventive cutting and construction techniques with historical details and references from around the world. This dress is one of several screenprinted with words in block-capitals such as ‘CHILLY’, ‘DRESSROCK’ and ‘BREAKER’ from the patois dialect spoken by New York’s Jamaican diaspora. This community would have a lasting influence on the work of both Westwood and McLaren following their first trip to the city in 1973.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Inscription
(a) label, right back neckline, printed in blue ink on white cotton: worlds / end / BORN IN ENGLAND
label, right back neckline, printed (vertically) in blue ink on white cotton McLAREN / WESTWOOD
Accession Number
CT7.a-c-1992
Department
International Fashion and Textiles
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest