"Seditionaries"

Abstract

What has fashion to do with gender studies? This is a reasonable question to ask. How the body is constrained, decorated and presented has been a central enterprise in human culture, and continues to be so today.

This thesis will explore the world of 1970s UK Punk beyond Malcolm McLaren, intentionally shifting focus to Vivienne Westwood and the larger cultural landscape. It will explain the context within which a normative hyper masculine narrative has been drawn in the past and will lift up other equally rich and important aspects of Punk through the medium of sartorial language. The young women and men of the Bromley Contingent will serve as a key example of how the clothing Vivienne Westwood designed was used and incorporated within an existing Mod and Teddy-boy aesthetic to express their identity and create a subcultural aesthetic in the UK.