Vivienne Westwood continued her medieval streak today, shifting from last season's riff on the Crusades to this one's bounce off the Canterbury cloisters. What got Westwood going, according to her show notes, was the idea of how ordinary people lived in the Middle Ages with a completely matter-of-fact belief in transfiguration. That's an interesting theme, but per usual, Dame Viv pursued it in a flotsam-jetsam way: There were peak-shouldered jackets, second-skin knits, lace made out of leather, draped bias-cut dresses with a goddess-y feel. There were also painted tropical florals, fantastic full skirts bursting with tulle, and, among other things, cats. The cat thing really made you wonder if Westwood was up to something much more crafty and clever than she was letting on, which was to create a collection so unbelievably random and occasional in its appeal that it actually re-created the experience of falling down the K-hole of the Internet. Anyway, kudos if so, and even if not, you always have to give Westwood total credit for the knockout looks she inevitably flashes up on the runway. Catching sight of her full black skirt with wine-colored tulle, plus matching cleavage-baring top, was a bit like happening upon a cut of the dance scene from Bande à Part on a glassy-eyed browse through YouTube. Cat video, footage from an eccentric wedding, some vlogger's selfie rundown of the stuff she bought on a recent shopping trip, a drunk cover version—in Finnish!—of Britney Spears' "Toxic," and then, out of nowhere, a masterwork. The woman's a legend. She can do what she wants.
