Vivienne Westwood Paris Collections fall 2013

In the spirit of pigs still flying, I come to Vivienne Westwood, I mean Dame Vivienne Westwood who is the recipient of another first of my reviews for her Fall 2013 collection

Dame Viv is one of those where you must sift through and dissect and try to ignore all the antics and theatrics of her shows.  I have always known she is a tailor at heart and the suits and jackets prove it!  I even liked the dresses as they are wearable and pretty and edgy without being way way over the top...that is if you eliminate those that are beyond unwearable and absurd.  My gripe is that the dresses are not as sharply rendered as the suits as I am drawn to the hems which seem to be a bit amateurish for a designer of her stature and reputation.  The rest of the collection requires tweezers to extract the beautiful pieces from the piles of layers that she is so wont to use on the runway.

Nevertheless there were great pieces buried in the souk of a show which is so typical of her and one MUST be able to see beyond the hair and makeup; as to say that it is distracting is one of the greatest understatements ever uttered.  She continues doing whatever she pleases and has done so for decades and I tip my hat to her as she has never skipped a beat in all these years.  And so yes, I needed to say at least a few kind words about her even if the collections are often overtly bizarre and off the wall.  I bow to her perseverance and her perspicuity year after year.

As for the meaning of perspicuity ...ask Tim Blanks, he is fond of showing off his arcane vocabulary in describing collections that only require simple language … as if the fancy words will help his knowledge of fashion or enhance the reviews!