500 Word Critical Reflection (Summer homework) – “Bondage Suit”

One of the biggest fashion movements to celebrate individuality and challenge the social

normalities of the time was the punk fashion movement of the 1970s which expanded on

the culture and aesthetic of punk music. Originating from a shop called ‘Sex’ and a rock

club called ‘Roxy’ 2 indicated a following of people who enjoyed the controversial culture of

these places and who began to challenge conventional standards by acting a certain way

which expanded into the way they dressed and therefore represented themselves. The

youth of the seventies enjoyed the contrast to the previous hippie fashion trend of the

sixties which expanded on the themes of peace, love and serenity into fashion.

Extremities within fashion rose as Malcolm McLaren became manager for the Sex Pistols

who had expressive and chaotic styles including extra rips, faded jeans, safety pins as

accessories, bold and deliberately offensive slogans 3 causing publicity through

controversies and heated debates. In the ‘Sex’ boutique that Vivienne Westwood and

McLaren ran together, they sold a variety of contentious pieces of clothing with bold,

suggestive and provocative themes. “Bondage suit”, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm

McLaren, 1976 4 shows two outfits; one masculine and one feminine which portray the style

of clothing that represented the punk movement which they sold at their boutique in

London. 5 Even the title, ‘Bondage suit’ has connotations of a sexual nature that must called

dispute between older more traditional inhabitants of the local area which may have brought

them more customers through word of mouth, whether it was positive or negative, it didn’t

matter because they were still generating customers. Black leather and belt buckles

inspired by sexual fetish wear were key elements to the clothes they stocked and they put

themselves out their and used their bravery to create statement pieces that spoke for

themselves. They say that clothes do the talking but was this saying something positive or

negative about the person wearing it? Was this impacting the people around them in a

positive or negative way? Although the clothes are seen as immoral and revolting by

some people due to the inappropriate of the way women especially represent themselves

and the morals they should consider, on the other hand, other people were seen as brave

and inspiring by wearing something so intimidating to a lot of people to voice their opinion

and stand out in a sheltered society therefore changing the views and social structure of

youths in a positive way.