Knuckle Duster

British fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen, the original creative engine behind the Alexander McQueen label, was beloved for his expert tailoring and theatrical runway shows. After his suicide in 2010, fans left tributes to the man and his talents outside Alexander McQueen boutiques worldwide. Record-breaking crowds visited the posthumous retrospective of the designer’s work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Victoria and Albert in London.

The inspirations for vintage Alexander McQueen bags, dresses, jackets and other items came from many quarters — film, music, current events, history, his heritage and fashions of the past. The designer's runway presentations were not just displays of clothing but were personal expressions of the zeitgeist, often touching on our cultural anxieties and concerns. McQueen’s own thoughts and feelings about love, death, gender, genocide, colonialism, global warming and the extinction of species all appear in his pieces.

McQueen certainly shook up fashion; he was a born Rottweiler. His upbringing on a council estate in north London played a part, but his family was close and supportive, not dysfunctional. He was proud of his Scottish heritage: He was a defiant fashion warrior. His historical themes and shows — such as “Highland Rape,” 2002, which was inspired by England’s “rape of Scotland,” as McQueen called it — always invoked powerful reactions from his audience of fashion pros.

“What you see in the work is the person himself. And my heart is in my work,” McQueen told Harper’s Bazaar in 2007.

It is perhaps this heart, and the heart’s exposure, that drew the crowds and made McQueen's creations both popular and emotionally resonant. Because the work was personal and thus layered with feeling, the motifs — decorative embellishments and fabric choices — have meaning. In other words, in McQueen’s oeuvre, plaid is more than simply a pattern.

Find vintage Alexander McQueen fashion and accessories — including the designer's coveted bags and comfortable, stretchy jersey knit dresses and gowns — on 1stDibs.

An integral part of fashion, handbags and purses have been indispensable accessories ever since we began to carry around personal items. Level of craftsmanship, style and shape matters — from coin purses in ancient Greece to early 20th-century opera bags and onward, handbags have evolved considerably over the years to meet our needs and desires, whether or not you happen to be prioritizing functionality over a flashy exterior.

Once, a single “It” handbag ruled each fashion season. No more. Today, lovers of vintage handbags are savvier and have a wider range of shopping options. Nevertheless, classics created by the likes of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Balenciaga still rule.

“It is not a fashion bag — it is a statement bag,” says Mightychic's Debra Kent of Hermès's widely beloved accessories. “When you carry an iconic Hermès bag — Birkin, Kelly, Constance — no one knows how long you have been into this culture or if you are a newbie. Your status is validated immediately.”

First released in 1997, Fendi's Baguette rose to fame along with Carrie Bradshaw, the Sex and the City character portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. Recently, the design has seen such a resurgence in popularity that Fendi has reissued it.

They are part of design history, so owning a handbag has meaning. As New York–based fashion historian Sarah C. Byrd says, “You have made the choice to invest in this piece because you understand the value of it in the past and in the future to come.”

From a 1980s Chanel black leather quilted mini buckle bag to the rare Hermès Birkin 30cm Himalayan with diamond hardware to a range of 19th-century bags, find a rich variety of vintage and designer handbags and purses spanning numerous brands on 1stDibs — seasonal “It” designation no longer needed.