“Sexier than a gossip and more powerful than a crown: the corset by Westwood”

If you think the corset is stuff from dusty museums, novels with too many tapestries and ladies who have passed out strategically under a wisteria, stop immediately: you are about to be happily denied.

Vivienne Westwood, the punk queen of British fashion, took this garment “from well-educated girls with too many rules” and turned it into a weapon of seduction, power and irony. Other than Victorian repression. Her corset is anything but shy: she enters the scene with the confident step of someone who knows exactly that everyone is watching. And maybe even commenting enviously.

Vivienne said: “Why hide the corset under the dress, when you can make it the dress itself?”
Boom. An era was born.

Her corsets are structured like baroque armour but with the attitude of a rockstar on tour: slats, laces, drapes and necklines that shout “I am the protagonist of this story, and yes, you can also take a picture”.

And the beauty? There is nothing constrictive. Westwood corsets do not tighten to make us silent stars, they tighten to make us shine. They are portable postures. Far from weakness. Here we talk about dominating the room without even having to speak.

Every appearance in the Westwood corset is a small world event. Twitter is on fire. Instagram is filled with zoom. And us common mortals? Well, we save the photo and fantasize on how it would be to enter the aperitif on Friday wearing a couture sculpture instead of the usual sad jacket.

After all, Vivienne left us a precise legacy: fashion is a game. And the corset is not the enemy, it’s the secret weapon. Just know to wear it with an ironic smile, the back straight and the spirit of those who know that – even just for today – can be everything.

Because yes, freedom sometimes has splints. But who said you can’t breathe… with style?

Art School Emilio Greco
Written by Martina Zenta, Pia Lattuca, Sarah Messina, Ornella Calogero, Pia Licciardello. Students of the “Liceo Emilio Greco”.