Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty at The Met

I was so lucky to have made it to the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Exhibit at The Met in the summer. The exhibition walks you through a series of mind set (I think?) and point of view on life, in the eyes of McQueen. The Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibit was really eye opening. You have to experience it in person to appreciate it. While there, I snapped a few (or 10) photos for my memory bank. Enjoy!

Immediately after the line and upon entering the room, it feels chilly, dark and spooky.

Everything is very dark and the room is extremely crowded...I just make my way to the "The Romantic Mind" section. In here, you will find pieces such as the orgami frockcoat from collections such as Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims (his graduation collection in 1992) and the bumster pants from the Taxi Driver collection in F/W 1993-1994.

The following room titled "Romantic Gothic and Cabinet of Curiosities" is a name well suited for it. There is a combination of unique objects on shelving of various sizes, videos playing various McQueen runway shows, various McQueen accessories (headdresses, masks, etc), the spin and spray painted dress that Shalom wore and a revolving wood fan skirt, both from the No.13 S/S 1999 show, among many other interesting pieces. As the name implies, everything is this room will spark your curiosity and some will raise eyebrows.

From here, the next room is the "Romantic Nationalism" exhibit which showcases pieces from the Highland Rape collection (F/W 1995-1996), The Girl Who Lived in the Tree (F/W 2008-2009) and the Widows of Culloden (F/W 2006-2007). I especially fancy the red silk satin coat from the The Girl Who Lived in the Tree collection. Every mannequin in this exhibit had a full head to face mask, almost making the would be model or person who wears one mysterious.

The fourth exhibit is titled "Romantic Exoticism". In this long narrow stretch, there are pieces from the It's Only a Game (S/S 2005) such as the football shoulder-padded jumpsuit in Japanese kimono fabric and others that display his mater tailoring craftsmanship and use of fabric from around the world. All displays were showcased in mirrored cabinets. There was also a special presentation in this exhibit. You come upon a giant darkened glass cube. I stood there not sure what to expect of it. I turned my head for a few seconds and heard shattered glass. The cube is like a screen that plays a clip from the S/S 2001 Voss show, where a masked (possibly gased) heavyset woman lies naked on torn fabric with flies surrounding her. It was kind of like a scene from a Saw movie.

A little spooked, I entered the "Romantic Primitivism" exhibition area. Here I saw a whole new use for roadkill and fallen hair sitting on the shower drain (a bit insulting, I know :/). There was the bead and horsehair dress and the hair coat (big black ball of hair from head to toe) from the Eshu (F/W 2000-2001) collection and the very very intricate silk organza, georgette and chiffon "Oyster" dress from Irene (S/S 2003).

It's almost the end...

Towards the end of the exhibit, there is a short hologram film with Kate Moss flowing around in a dress from the 2006 Widows of Culloden show. The actual dress is hung behide a glass display. It was romantic, Princess Grace, whimsical, 70's wedding dress and rich prom girl dress all mixed in together. The detail and amount of layering on this dress made me want to cry. It was so amazing!!!!

The exhibit closes with the "Romantic Naturalism" collection. There is a series of alien-like mannequins wearing the Plato's Atlantis (S/S 2010) collection including the crazy armadillo shoes.