Fashion

Alexander McQueen Toasts To The Victorian Era

by Tyler Atwood

March 11, 2015

One views certain Paris Fashion Week shows intending to see something beautiful, and certain other shows intending to view something challenging and eccentric. Alexander McQueen's collections have always been an amalgamation of both, providing achingly lovely looks with a sinister edge and theatrics to spare. Sarah Burton's Fall 2015 McQueen collection took this duality at face value, formulating innately feminine, frilled designs with a hardened, rebellious edge.

During an interview with Women's Wear Daily, Burton made apparent the collection's dichotomy between sensitivity and strength, explaining to the publication that her autumnal wares express "the fragility of life and the fragility of beauty, and how there can be beauty in decay." The contrast surfaced in such juxtapositions as an ombre and vermilion gown which appears to bloom against the stark backdrop of an ornamental collar, and the play between leather and lace.

Furthermore, Burton kept viewers on their toes with boudoir-inspired silhouettes and cuts from plunging necklines in crimson chiffon and ruffled mille feuille-style blush silk in the form of a voluminous mini dress. The look, as T Magazine noted, was very much tinged with references to the Victorian era, but in a manner that Queen Victoria herself would have found quite shocking.

The show's hair and cosmetics were equally adventurous, beginning with a voluminous, eccentric bouffant style by Guido Palau of Redken, and a peaked complexion paired with red-lined eyes by Pat McGrath.

Were there staples in the collection one could wear to work? Perhaps, but your office would have to be incredibly liberal in its dress code. However, the collection's wispy, ethereal frocks and unexpected elements of leather are ideal for after-hours sartorial experimentation.