Vivienne Westwood's story starts at 430 Kings Road in Chelsea. In 1971 Westwood and Malcolm McLaren opened a boutique called Let It Rock, selling Teddy Boy clothes. In 1974 it became Sex, then Seditionaries, the shop that helped define the punk look, and since 1980 it has been called Worlds End. That sequence of names is the whole brand in miniature: a history lesson worn like a provocation. The dresses here carry the history in their cut. The Sunday dress appears in satin tartan, in wool-blend tartan and in cotton with off-the-shoulder sleeves, and the Chichi comes as a draped cotton-blend bustier and a check-pattern tulle maxi. The corset is the other thread, in the Sequin Off-The-Shoulder Corset Mini Dress, the Joy strapless draped duchess-satin mini and the Nova Cora floral-print crepe bustier. For evening there is the Glossa one-shoulder satin maxi and the Bagatelle duchess silk-satin mini, and for a daytime option the pleated striped cotton Oxford midi. If the corset shape is new to you, this look-alike guide to corset and ruffle dresses shows how the silhouette gets worn.

The orb logo was first used in 1986 and stands for taking tradition into the future, an orb ringed like Saturn. It is the thing that links a velvet shoulder bag to a gold-tone choker. The bags here include the Hazel Treasure hand bag in khaki and the Hazel Treasure clutch in suede, the studded Ellie nubuck shoulder bag, the Emma shoulder bag in suede and in leather, and the Charm Frame embellished embroidered velvet shoulder bag. A flat leather card holder and a chain cross body bag cover the small end. The jewelry is all about pearls and crystals: the orb-embellished beaded choker, the Evangeline crystal-embellished earrings, Faux Pearl Putti drop earrings, Broken Pearl gold-tone earrings and the Celestia set of small bracelet, necklace and drop earrings. The Crystal Ondina hoops are the easiest to wear every day. What I would skip is wearing the choker, a pearl earring and the Celestia necklace all at once; choose one neckline piece and let the earrings carry the rest.

The corset keeps showing up in the tops too. The Black & Green Sunday Corset Top and the Kitten floral-print silk-satin corset are the two obvious ones. The Roxy tartan wool top, the Ginnie gathered ribbed jersey blouse and the Long-Sleeve Orgy Shoulder Jersey T-Shirt are the easier pieces to wear with jeans. For knits there is the Pamela logo-embroidered gathered wool turtleneck, the Cotton-Cashmere Bea Cropped Cardigan and the Anna Cowl-Neck Knit Top. Wear the Pamela turtleneck with the tartan skirts in the next section and the logo embroidery does the talking. A cropped cardigan like the Bea works over a corset top, and this history of the cropped cardigan is a nice read if you like to know the origin of what you wear.

Tartan and tweed are part of the brand's DNA. Her Autumn-Winter 1987/88 Harris Tweed collection began a long relationship with the Scottish cloth, and she is credited with reviving its use in fashion. Anglomania in 1993 and 1994 brought her own tartan, named MacAndreas after Andreas Kronthaler, her former student and husband, who became creative director in 2016. The tailoring here follows that thread. The Bergère cotton and wool-blend blazer and the Georgia striped virgin wool blazer are the sharp pieces, and the Wool-Cashmere Rounded Jacket and Gray Liska Coat are for colder days. The skirts are the Mini Bell checked pleated mini, the pleated cotton and wool pencil skirt, the Tailored Mini Skirt and the Meghan layered checked kilt midi. If you are building a fall wardrobe around a blazer, this capsule wardrobe guide is a useful starting frame.

The last four pieces are the most Westwood of all, and they are the ones that make a plain outfit read as hers. Tartan and the orb do the talking here, so the rest of the outfit can stay simple. The Meghan asymmetric virgin wool kilt is the rule-breaking version of a Scottish classic, and the Orb raffia bucket hat, the checked-jacquard silk tie and the Wool Embroidered Orb Scarf carry the logo and the tartan into accessories. If you want to see how Scottish tartan crosses into sweaters, this story of argyle and tartan is worth a look, and this silk scarf guide shows more ways to tie a scarf.

I would build around one tartan piece and one corset piece, then keep the rest quiet. Picture her on a gray afternoon in Chelsea, in the Meghan kilt, the Pamela turtleneck and the Emma bag. The brand started as a shop on Kings Road, and wearing it still feels like that: a little history, and a little defiance. The Orb scarf or the bucket hat is where I would begin if the dresses feel like a big step.

If you want to keep going, SIMKHAI Dresses and Bags and AREA Tops & Dresses pair well with this edit.