Medieval Revival: Going Baroque

Vogue, November, 1988: Gilded Drama: Baroque, Elizabethan, Victorian and Shakespearean Influence in Late 1980s Fashion

Jul 08, 2025

Issue #1: VOGUE November 1988
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Jul 1
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Yards and yards of velvet. Bolts of brocade. Strand upon strand of jeweled crosses. For inspiration, designers are even drawing all the Byzantine past. Traditionally, these clothes are about putting on the glitz. The news this year is that the glitz is surprisingly lighthearted, and light-handed: Haute not Haughty.

Welcome back to the pages of this month’s issue, Vogue, November, 1988, Anna Wintour’s first issue on the job. Since we began with the cover image, inspired by a bold gilded and bejeweled motif (juxtaposed in a modern way), it felt only natural to continue with that theme, which was carried throughout the magazine, making several striking appearances IN THIS ISSUE.

In my search, which feels a bit like a treasure hunt, I set out to find the exact authentic vintage pieces (or, ideally as close as possible) to those featured on the original pages, alongside newer items at both high and low price points, reflecting the way we reimagine the past to make it wearable today.

Designers call it Medieval, Baroque, and Shakespearean; regardless of the inspiration, an abundance of designs are influenced by the Elizabethan era. Karl Lagerfeld was so dazzled by the recent “Age of Chivalry” exhibition at London’s Royal Academy that he “translated medieval times” right into his collection for Chanel. A long black evening dress, for instance, has a low curving Juliet neckline, a velvet doublet is embroidered with gold chains, trimmed in Bruges lace.

In the late 1980s, as the fashion world reached peak power suit and shoulder pad saturation, a parallel aesthetic quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) emerged: one rooted not in corporate armor, but in the lavish, theatrical silhouettes of history.

Designers began drawing heavily from Baroque, Elizabethan, and Shakespearean influences, reviving exaggerated proportions, opulent fabrics, and regal drama in a way that felt both escapist and editorially daring.

Ruffled collars, puffed sleeves, corseted bodices, and high-neck gowns made their way down runways with an intentional excess. These looks weren’t just romantic, they were referential. Designers like Vivienne Westwood reinterpreted 18th-century tailoring with punk sensibility, while Christian Lacroix brought rococo maximalism into mainstream couture. Galliano and Gaultier leaned into historical pastiche, blending styles, merging period drama with futuristic styling.

The influence of these eras was seen not just in couture but in mainstream fashion editorials of the time, with models styled like modern-day queens and heroines —pearl embellishments, brocade fabrics, and silhouettes that played with proportion and posture. There was a sense of costume and storytelling in the clothing, a reaction to the hyper-modernism of the time, and perhaps a desire to reclaim a certain sense of drama and decadence as the decade drew to a close.

Ultimately, this late '80s revival of old-world silhouettes created a striking dialogue between past and present. It reminded the industry that fashion doesn't just look forward, it reinterprets the past, reclaims its power, and reinvents it for whoever dares to wear it next.