McQueen SS11

Possibly the most anticipated show of Spring 2011 Paris Fashion Week was Alexander McQueen, as it was their first womenswear show designed in the late Lee McQueen’s absence. It was all eyes on Sarah Burton, the new head designer, yet she somehow managed to deliver under the pressure. It couldn’t have been an easy to job to stick to the house trademarks of meticulous tailoring, dark influences and edgy, otherworldly designs, without simply regurgitating Lee Alexander’s previous designs…but the critics have weighed in and it looks like she pulled it off, all while adding her own flair.

“In an extraordinarily beautiful show, Burton succeeded in both being faithful to the late designer’s distinctive design ethos while taking the label into a new era.” -The Guardian “A tour-de-force that channeled McQueen’s darkly surreal style, remodeling his signature elements into strange and beautiful confections that managed to be at the same time new and reassuringly familiar.” -Associated Press

“A show laden with emotion that was made even more remarkable because of how right she got it.” – Vogue.com UK

“Inspired, this time, by the anatomy of the woman who chooses to wear it and by the flora and fauna of the natural world, it was both technically and artistically perfect.” -The Independent

“Sarah Burton … revived the late designer’s challenging legacy with a brilliant first collection imbued with a pagan, bohemian spirit and featuring spectacular hand-crafted detail.” -The Daily Telegraph

Photos by Sonny Vandevelde via A Shaded View on Fashion

Nail Tribute

As much as I hate the commercialization of Alexander McQueen’s death-he was a legend, and its sort of sad to make a profit off of his suicide-I do really love this idea of an “All Hail McQueen” nail polish shade by Butter London. Inspired by the famous Kate Moss hologram, its gray with shimmer, and comes in this great little square bottle.

Will you be buying? Via Nylon Magazine.

P.S. If their name is “Butter London”, why the hell don’t they have stockists in the UK? Fail.

Amazeboots

Well its been a pretty drab affair here at Drooling Isn’t Pretty these past few weeks, I just noticed my past eight posts are all black, leather, black, hardware, black black black. Not that that’s a bad thing, or an inaccurate portrayal of my wardrobe or anything, just noticing.

Moving on, THESE BOOTS ARE AMAZEBALLS. Amazeboots. I usually save up pictures of all the Alexander McQueen stuff I’m drooling over so I can sneak them in between other posts, lest this become Drooling Over McQueen blog, but these were too good to stick in a folder.

If these were mine I would walk around crashing into everything because I’d be too busy either a) staring at my beautiful, buttery black leather magical super booties with skull zippers or b) sticking my nose in the air as I strut around superiorly in said booties.

Ugh

Ohmygod, like, Kristin Cavallari has the same McQueen scarf as me. Embarassing.

Nom Nom Nom

Alexander McQueen menswear sneak peek video via SHOWstudio;

Drowning

This is old but too good not to post…via Vogue Nippon. How good does the McQueen print look underwater?

Bond Street Undersea

After the London College of Fashion graduation ceremony and an epic day of pubbing and dim sum, we went to Bond Street to look at all the beautiful designer stores. It’s best to go at night so that you can photograph the window displays, because technically you aren’t allowed to and people tend to get uppity about it, especially on the luxury end. I couldn’t resist snapping some shots of the new Alexander McQueen display at his flagship store, because the black curtains came down and now its all under-water lighting and crazy shoes.

Little Piece of History

Short Lived

There are now “Long Live McQueen” shirts available for purchase from designer Christopher Suavé. As much as I respect McQueen and think his memory should be honored, I’m not sure printing his face on a shirt and charging $65 for it is the way to do it. Lee Alexander McQueen was a fairly private person and I just don’t know if he would want people parading around with his face on their chests…but if it’s your thing, they are available for pre-order.

via hint magazine

God Save McQueen

Alexander McQueen is now in that kingdom in the sky…such a young and accomplished designer. He was my favorite, I literally just did a presentation on him this morning…rest in peace ;(

London, Show Me Your Colours

It’s been a crazy week getting settled in London…I have so many pictures I figured I would post them in colour sections.

YELLOW

Yellow is for getting to see the famous Alexander McQueen lace dress in person…

…for lemon twist martinis and poker games at the Park Lane Sheraton hotel…

…and for bright clothes on snowy streets.

Top Five of the Week

Alright yo, here’s another top five, I know I’ve been slacking. This week I am into…

1) Alice + Olivia…I’ve been posting a lot of Alice + Olivia lately and I covet this chain bag….I COVET IT. Available here at Chickdowntown.

2) Opening Ceremony Where the Wild Things Are collection…I would wear this Max suit every second I am indoors. My teddy bear has a matching outfit, so it seems fitting. Also, the faux fur skirts and jewelry in this collection are pretty epic…more here.

3) Edie Sedgwick hair. I hate my hair right now and don’t know what to do with it…but it pretty much looks like this if I sleep on it wet so I’m going to just accept it. I’m no Edie but I’m going to have to pretend the look is intentional.

4) I’ve recently developed an inexplicable obsession with sugar skulls. I want them everywhere.

5) I know skull scarves are SO Alexander McQueen two-seasons-ago, but I’ve somehow gotten myself back into the whole printed neckerchief thing…I used to wear a bandana everyday (along with tracksuits), and although the tracksuits will definitely never see the light of day again, I’m kinda down to re-commit to the whole unnecessary neck decoration thing again.

I know things have been a bit slow at Drooling Isn’t Pretty, but get ready because something special is coming up for my 200th post.

Bee Mine!

Drooling Isn’t Pretty got a little makeover…thoughts? I’ve been meaning to make a proper header for a while but I haven’t had the time/patience. This one will do until I get bored of it in any case.

I love this Alexander McQueen skull ring, I think it should be the literal right-hand man (er…accessory) to my future beloved bjing bjing. Its so adorably chunky and dark…and I love the bumble bee of course. So drool-worthy!!! Available at Net-A-Porter, though note that it is considerably more expensive than the Betsey Johnson one.