Savage Beauty: Alexander McQueen

I talked my friend Rachel into braving the long wait to get into this exhibit at the Met. We both agreed that if we hadn’t gone on the last day of the exhibit, we’d do it again.

I’d heard about the exhibit for a while, and while I didn’t know McQueen’s work well, I’d thought it might be an interesting show. Then a story on how long people were waiting cropped up on the New York Times website at the end of the show. I pleaded with Rachel to wait with me and we arrived at 9.15 a.m. in the hopes of having a shorter wait. We were sadly mistaken.

Upon our arrival, the line stretched down 2 blocks into Central Park — an hour before the museum was scheduled to open. It took almost an hour to reach the doors of the museum, and another hour and a half to wind our way through the labyrinth of separators marking off the waiting line. We finally reached the beginning of the exhibit at noon.

The clothes were stunning. McQueen started his career as an apprentice on Savile Row, and it showed throughout. The first room featured 15-20 of his military jackets, each one more impressive and beautiful than the one before. And the show grew in creativity and beauty. Kudos to the museum for its impressive work; the rooms conveyed the variety of moods McQueen used in his shows and collections to great effect, and the layout allowed us to get close to many of the pieces and see his craftsmanship and impeccable handstitches. I left wanting to start all over again, and perhaps take home a few pieces for myself. A fantastic exhibit.

If you want to know more about the pieces in the exhibit, you can read the background on it, which includes a good overview of the organization of the exhibit, and look through its key pieces here.
 

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