Shirt, sash and breeches
1981 {Pirates collection, autumn-winter 1981–82}
Medium
cotton
Measurements
(a) 100 cm (centre back) (shirt)
(b) 46.0 × 215.0 cm (sash)
(c) 77.0 cm (outer leg) 36.0 cm (waist, flat) (breeches)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Just Jeans Pty Ltd, Member, 1999
Gallery location
Special Exhibitions Gallery
Ground Level, NGV International
About this work
With Pirate, Westwood drew on historical and global
references to craft a radically new aesthetic – one unlike
anything she or the fashion world had seen before. In keeping
with this new direction, the label adopted a new logo: an arm
brandishing a cutlass, inspired by the flag of seventeenthcentury
English privateer-turned-pirate Thomas Tew. The Pirate
collection quickly gained cult status before crossing over into
the mainstream. It also helped to define the look of London’s
New Romantic scene, epitomised by musicians such as Steve
Strange, Boy George and Adam Ant.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
England
Inscription
(a) label, centre back, printed in blue on white fabric: world's / end / McLAREN / WESTWWOOD / BORN IN ENGLAND
(b) label, centre back, printed in blue on white fabric: world's end / McLAREN / WESTWOOD / BORN IN ENGLAND
(c) label, centre back, printed in blue on white fabric: world's end / McLAREN / WESTWOOD / BORN IN ENGLAND
Accession Number
1999.359.a-c
Department
International Fashion and Textiles