V&A - Vivienne Westwood - Changing Styles

'Pirate' outfit

McLaren and Westwood's Pirate clothes explored historical cut and evoked the golden age of piracy, an age of highwaymen, dandies and buccaneers. As in Punk, the garments were unisex. The collection immediately entered the mainstream and McLaren and Westwood gained a new reputation, as serious and marketable designers. Club owners Michael and Gerlinde Costiff were at the Pirate show: 'It was the most extraordinary thing you had ever seen. It was absolutely magical. There was a glitter of gold, that whole swash-buckling, heroic feeling. It was just stunning, particularly at that grey time.'