Savage Beauty.

This image is the only one of these that I own, as it was from my ticket. All the rest of the pictures I have got off the Internet, so I hereby claim that none of these pictures are mine, but rather I'm merely using them to convey my thoughts and opinions. Abigail Lane

 So, I decided that I really wanted to go to this show and I wasn't going to allow myself to miss it (as I have a tendency to procrastinate and forget about things) So I booked my ticket on-line and made my way down to London on a sunny Friday that soon became a rainy Friday. 08/05/15

 There was quite a long queue to get in, but we were all given leaflets and posters of the event while waiting which was a good distraction. And once we all entered one of the first phrases I read when I walked into his first real gallery space were his famous lines.

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

I found this challenging and refreshing at the same time. As I am the sort of person that doesn't like to break the rules I knew and could see exactly what he meant and how he went about breaking rules, both in the way he covered, revealed, or layered up certain elements of his garments. Not a single of his pieces felt ordinary or uncharacteristically unlike McQueen. His style just yelled out at you, 'Take that Rules! I know you care and I care, but I'm going to do this because I know you hate it.' It was both funny and intimidating to see just how strange and bizarre he could go.

(McQueen) Figure 2: feathers painted gold and embroidered skirt.

An absolutely stunning dress. It looks both uncomfortable, glamorous, and also bewitchingly beautiful. It strangely helped to have the dark and slightly splotched out mirrors behind it. It somehow made you feel like you had stepped back in time into a world that wasn't quite real, as it had bird women, billowing capes that were or were not fitted, and huge shoes and masked faces. 

With the music that was playing around you as well at the time made you feel like you had been invited to a masquerade, only the sad thing was that every one of the guests had been put to sleep as if they were under an enchantment.

"I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress."

Words that strike fear into many people who like seeing the world as a series of hierarchy statuses, these show a very opinionated person with a sharp and clear mindset.

(McQueen) Figure 3

This image in particular made me feel very small and short in comparison to it, but when I looked at it's legs I thought it probably would walk very well in such a closed up leg skirt.

This piece is a classic example of what McQueen likes to do best and that is combine the female body with elements from different types of animals or birds.

(McQueen) Figure 4

 The fiery red shoes and skirt almost look alive from a distance.

Nature inspired collection. (McQueen) Figure 5.

 From the natural section the woman covered by a headrest of a reindeer's antlers and then covered by a broken veil has caught the eye of many a person and is one of the primary images to be found on the internet, along with it's part the it's right the flower dress.

"I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress."

Live chess set. (McQueen) Figure 6.

"It's a new era in Fashion- there are no rules. It's all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels, and up-and-coming designers all together." Alexander McQueen.

Figure 7: the Tall Boxed room.

Although I loved the space and incredible detail in this room I found the height of some of the pieces quite frustrating for me. Because I couldn't get close enough to it to see it clearly. And I felt extremely crowded around. about twenty people were sitting down taking a rest and I could hardly move past them or get anywhere fast enough before I wanted to go and see something else.

The most prominent feature of this room was the noise and the sound of the catwalk shows that have taken place in the past being replayed over and over again on twenty different screens all about the room that were all playing at different times in the year, month, place. 

Everything was here. Shoes, hats, headpieces, dresses, armour... the list goes on it was like walking into a treasure trove. 

"I think there is beauty in everything. What 'normal' people would perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it." McQueen

Skeleton shoe. (McQueen) Figure 8.

  Although regarded as horrid at first there is indeed beauty in the strange and unusual. The pattern and framework of our bodies is proof enough that people can find beauty both in and out of ourselves.

Figure 9: the Butterfly headpiece.

 Although I don't actually remember seeing this piece especially at the show. I remember seeing something like it. And as it was done by the same designer I thought I could still put it in.

Figure 10: The Steampunk/Gothic look

I'm quite sure that McQueen would be very unhappy with me if I call any of his designs simply costumes, but some of them ... would make excellent costumes. 

These are about the most normal I ever saw him get. The red tartan patterns looking stunning against the golden back lighting, and the white or back lace really setting the colours in.

Figure 11: the Armour look

Although the fabrics have been excessively impressive it was the glimmering reflections that came from these sorts of pieces that mad the show rooms come alive.

Figure 12:

I was instantly drawn to these models. Not because of the patterns on their dresses, (they were good patterns) but because of the excitement that came from the colour, and sound changing consistently in that room.

Figure 13: Elaborate Prints and moving Screen.

 Although this is actually four of the same five models as shown in the picture above. They look totally different due to the fact that the background and lighting have changed. Truely strange and odd to see, and what you don't realize when looking at an image like this is that the background was a mirrored reflection of snakes circling and twisting out of one another. It was quite uncomfortable and odd to watch at first, but then again, I think that was the whole idea. It felt like you had been dropped into a jungle of strange sexual fantasies.

Figure 14: Spring and Summer collections. The Naturalistic view. Photographer unknown.

McQueen has said time and time again that he loved the shape of the female body and also the animalistic or birdlike shapes and designs. So it's not that much of a surprise then when you find him combining them in his catwalk pieces.

Spring and Summer Flower dress (bottom mid right). Upon closer inspection although the flowers looked real they were infact all made from silk and other such substances having been dyed and crushed and then sewn in a way that made them look like flowers.

Figure 15: Spring and Summer collections.

Figure 16: Overseas inspiration

Figure 17:

Figure 18: One of the final showrooms. The Room of Mirrors: Picture from google.

And finally the room of rotating models and the mix and messing of styles from different cultures. This room was fantastic. I love the feeling of space and the endless reflection of people, light, and fabrics in all the huge, dark mirrors.All the models themselves were turning on rotating mirrors and with the light piano playing in the background it felt more like you had been transported to the inside of a jewelry box.

And Because of this I felt like dancing to the music and putting on one of those dresses and dancing to my hearts content, but unfortunately it was a bit crowded, and I had no intention on getting security worried. Unlike McQueen I do tend to stay within my boundaries.

I would recommend anyone who wants to appreciate hard work, who embraces change, new ideas, historical references, and the beauty of the natural world to go and see this exhibition in the V&A. NOW. It was incredible, and I would have liked to see another entire section filled with more fashion and design like before. 

I did feel that there were a lot of people milling about certain places and not moving around, I didn't like that so much because it made it hard to relax and enjoy what I could see in front of me as I had to try and convince them without asking them to move directly if they could perhaps shift slightly to the side so that I could see what a certain piece was made from.

So, yeah, apart from the fact that it was excessively crowded I still thoroughly enjoyed the extremely bizarre and daring qualities that McQueen love to show in his work. And now for his final quote.

"Of course I make mistakes. I'm human. If I didn't make mistakes then I'd never learn. You can only go forward by making mistakes." McQueen.

written By Abigail Lane