An Ephemeral Moment: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
It was a Sunday afternoon, and the line was long. Through a staircase of cold, white marble, an empty hall, and a bright yellow room filled with a mish-mosh of 19-Century paintings, viewers embraced what many people considered the holiest of holies: the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibit, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.
The almost hour-long wait was worthwhile upon entering the exhibit’s initial room. Dress forms displayed skilled bespoke tailoring through black blazers and military jackets. Within each piece, one could gather a sense of the Savile Row-trained McQueen and his budding desire to experiment with form and structure. The blazers — all womenswear — varied between the traditional and the avant-garde. One blazer particularly treaded this aesthetic line, featuring remarkable tailoring alongside unexpectedly lengthy lapels. Another exhibited sleeves stopping at the inside of the forearm, allowing the remaining fabric to rest away from the body like an unintentional wing.
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We started from blazers, reminiscent of McQueen’s studious days at Savile Row, to the almost terrifying yet majestic dresses of a man with a burgeoning dark imagination. One dress, a red gown made with dyed ostrich feathers and glass tiles, was inspired by the image of blood pulsating underneath human skin. Yet instead of composing this piece as a typical gown, McQueen skewed the dress’s symmetry, articulating a sense of uneasiness along with its blood-red hue. Other garments stemmed from the dark romanticism of an Edgar Allan Poe story, showcasing coal-black duck feathers, high Victorian collars, billowy shoulders, lace, and intricate beading. Other outfits — composed mostly of black leather straps — channeled the eerie power-play of BDSM (Bondage, Dominance, Submission, and