Savage Beauty Day 5

Dress, Sarabande, spring/summer 2007
Cream hand-painted leather

"Women should look like women.  A piece of cardboard has no sexuality."*

Alexander McQueen created so many fabulous pieces, it was actually quite hard to pick just a few to share.  In the end, what I took away from the exhibit is to let your creativity blossom, no matter where it might go.

*Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue

Savage Beauty Day 4

Dress, Widows of Culloden, autumn/winter 2006-07
Ivory Silk Organza

"I'm an avid follower of the news, and sometimes you just can't take any more war, any more disasters, and you want to remind yourself there's beauty in the world."*

If you haven't already, check out this video on YouTube that Kate Moss wearing a Widows of Culloden gown did for Alexander McQueen fashion show.

*Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue

Savage Beauty Day 3b

"Bumster" skirt, Highland Rape, autumn/winter 1995-96
Black silk [reproduction from original pattern]

"[With 'bumsters,'] I wanted to elongate the body, not just show the bum.  To me, that part of the body - not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine - that's the most erotic part of anyone's body, man or woman."*

What can I say?  It's hump day!

*Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue

Savage Beauty Day 3a

Ensemble, autumn/winter 2010-11
Coat of duck feathers painted gold, skirt of white silk embroidered with gold thread.

Closeup of Coat

"You've got to know the rules to break them.  That's what I'm here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition."*

*Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue

Savage Beauty Day 2

House of Givenchy Haute Couture
Ensemble, Eclect Dissect, autumn/winter 1997-98
Dress and gloves of black leather, Collar of red pheasant feathers and resin vulture skulls by Simon Costin.

Closeup of collar with red pheasant feather and resin vulture skulls.

"I don't think like the average person on the street.  I think quite perversely sometimes."*

*Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue

A Week of Savage Beauty

Fashion, as many of you know, is a passion for me, and if you didn't know?  You do now.

Last week I braved the heat wave and went to The Met, explored the Savage Beauty exhibit which offered a glimpse into the world Lee Alexander McQueen created where fashion is art, and came back with the catalogue - a hefty hardcover book that's as unique as the designer himself.

If asked for a single word to describe this man's work, the first that comes to my mind is "stunning", which doesn't do him justice.

So, I thought I'd take this week to post pics of some of my favorite pieces, and include the quotes from the book that accompanies them.  Why the quotes?  Some of them struck me personally, even touched on how I thought or even approached writing.

Dress, VOSS, spring/summer 2001
Red and black ostrich feathers and glass medical slides painted red.

"There's blood beneath every layer of skin."*

*Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton, Solve Sundsbo, Tim Blanks and Susannah Frankel - exhibition hardcover catalogue