one kit kat a day: Savage Beauty

Right now The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is housing the Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibition. I had the privilege of attending the exhibition last week. I've been to many art exhibitions around the world and have never been as moved as I was last Wednesday morning.

The McQueen exhibition was true to his work and showcased his talent immaculately. The opening room sets the romantacism and dark emotion of McQueen's work with Tony Hymas' "Scent of Intrigue" humming in the background. The first dress you're introduced to is from the Voss collection and uses microscopes stained red to form the structure of the top of the dress and has ostrich feathers to set the structure of the dress. This was the first time I had ever seen anything by McQueen in real life, and I am certain I stood at that dress for about 15 minutes. If the entire exhibition was only that first room, I would have walked away a happy woman.....but the exhibition walks you through his entire career.

It was at this point I thought I have seen all I have to see in this life.

Then I walked into the second room. McQueen's work is all about romantasicm first, and what I saw next almost had me to my knees...

The Horn Of Plenty collection. This dress is entirely black duck feathers, this shows his life's dedication to his work. Can you imagine making a piece as perfect as this? It was shown on black mirrors in a dark room with a slight breeze flowing that sent gentle goose bumps over your body. The Met takes you to see Alexander McQueen and then you experience his collection.

Then you see jackets he structured with fabric only- no padding in the shoulders. His pure technique was all that was needed. The audio tells you stories over and over again of how he would use his scissors as if they were an extension of his arms and seemed to have no inhibitions about taking scissors to a garment to re-create it to its new form.

There were quotes from McQueen scattered at each collection that brought him even closer to the present as you walk from collection to collection. "I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress." I totally get what he's saying here, and I LOVE it.

McQueen's work was controversal in mainstream media, who reported that his Highland Rape Autumn collection of 1995/96 glorified the rape of women. They couldn't have been further from the truth. McQueen is of Scottish heritage which was one of the most important facets of his life, and the collection represented the rape of Scotland by England in the 18th Century.

My favourite piece from McQueen came from his Jellyfish collection. This collection was the last collection he saw on the runway and was based on human life in the future. He thought "what will happen in the future if we continue on the path we're on? Will we return to the ocean?" This was the inspiration for his collection Jellyfish. Seriously, how do minds like this exist? They're to be admired and adored. So I let out a physical squeak when I reached my favourite piece; you'll recognise it, Lady Gaga rocked it in Bad Romance.

Last Wednesday was a turning point in my life where a exhibition brought me to tears. Every single piece is the product of talent I'm not sure we'll see again. I've shared some more pieces from the collection below, but cannot even come close to explaining or sharing the Savage Beauty exhibition. It's absolute genius.

"I'm overally romantic" - McQueen

"McQueen's romantic yearnings guided and fueled his creativity and advanced fashion."- Sarah Burton