Mcqueen v Bowery

Bravo, thank god and hallelujah. Finally, a collection that has blown us out of the proverbial fashion water. Alexander McQueen does it again for Fall 2009.

Yes, the show could be deemed misogynistic with its models as blow up dolls and sex fetish gear (a la Leigh Bowery and lately, Boy George in his own homage to Bowery), but take away the trimmings and these are amazing suits and dresses – what an artist! While Karl Lagerfeld languishes in occasionally adding an interesting styling slant or colour combo to a basic Chanel suit, McQueen continues to push our boundaries.

In a rather irritating conundrum, fashion both annoys and amazes me. Things deemed ghastly eventually become the norm which is rather irritating for those of us who like to look absurdly different from the majority that walk this earth.

During most of his career, underground performance artist Leigh Bowery, lived an unpopularist existence and only after his death were there major retrospectives of his work. Would he be turning in his grave as to how fashion is now “nicking” his look and rendering it acceptable? Isn't the point of being alternative, to remain that way, or is this the beauty of living in post-modern times: one gigantic mass of adaptation of ideas borne from others?

Now, where do I get myself a pair of those red lip thingies?