08/05/2026
Vivienne Westwood's Rocking Horse tasseled platforms make an appearance. Iconic to say the least.
In last slide The late great Vivienne Westwood is wearing The Rocking Horse Playforms in Wien.
'TIME MACHINE AW 1988-1989'
Titled after the 1895 science-fiction novella by H. G. Wells,
"Time Machine' combined
clothing styles and details from wildly different periods to create a hybrid that felt new. Unlike Wells's protagonist, whose travelling projected into a distant future, Vivienne Westwood chose to explore the past.
In the style of a couture show, Westwood's programme divided her collection into different passages; and, contrasting with the shows staged during her partnership with Malcolm McLaren, where wild rock music blared as the soundtrack, she played classical music. The section titles of
'Time Machine' suggest the different historical eras she oscillated through: 'Keep On Jousting';
'Urban Poses in our Togas'; 'Satyrs Play'...
Her opening section of almost conservative Harris tweed suits in muted colours, skirts kicked out and fluffy ruffled petticoats visible, was dedicated to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, albeit time-travelled to her youth ('Miss Marple Was Once a Young Lady and Wore her Knockout Skirt'). Victorian men's outfits, such as the Norfolk jacket and knee-breeches, inspired the menswear (modelled by men of all ages).
