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BRITAIN MUST GO PAGAN
S/S 1988 to S/S 1990
The next few collections, which became known as 'Britain Must Go Pagan', were wildly eclectic. Westwood combined traditional British themes with classical and pagan elements. Classical drapery was paired with tweed, Smedley underwear was overprinted with pornographic images from ancient Greece. This strange mix reflected the inherent contradiction in her work, its respect for tradition and culture alongside a love of parody and sexual liberty.
In Time Machine (named after H. G. Wells's novel) Westwood made precise 'Miss Marple' suits in Harris tweed and articulated jackets inspired by medieval armour. Voyage to Cythera, named after a Watteau painting, was another journey into the past. It was followed by Pagan V, in which Westwood turned again to 18th-century France. Printing Sèvres patterns onto classical 'togas', she created a collection that 'telescoped time'.
From this point in her career, references to literature and high art pervaded Westwood's work. The next gallery examines themes that have dominated her collections from the 1990s to the present.