Farewell, Lee McQueen

Cathy Horyn's NYT review
Cathy's On the Runway blog review
New York Mag slideshow
Video on The Cut of the items in the final collection - I hadn't noticed the short dress with the feather underskirt (#5), which has a charming deshabille feel to it.

Everything is so decadent, particularly at first glance (gold! feathers! gold feathers!), but when you get a chance to look more closely, it's so clear why Mr. McQueen was a master, doing things with cut and drape rather than piecing. If I have my facts straight, looks 10 and 11 are each from a single piece of cloth.

Notice the cape part of #8 - I've been boring people (well, Nick) in IRL for the past few years about how capes are the next thing. I'm not a huge fan of the pinch pleats at the hip on a couple of the skirts (what looks fine on models can look unattractive on a "real" woman).

I really can't wait to see these out in the real world. The makeup and hair for displaying the collection is not really flattering but does a good job of putting the focus on the clothes. If you watch the video, you see a model in one of the short dresses (the dress under #8?) with her hair down and a purse over her shoulder; she looks so chic, and suddenly you understand how these clothes could actually work in real life and not just be put directly into a museum.

Also in the video you can see the shoes, which are amazing. For the most part I'm an LL Bean boot or flip-flop kind of girl, but I'd hobble around in those in a second! And I love the Union Jack minaudiere.