Alexander McQueen Spring 2011 Menswear

Sarah Burton comes through as Alexander McQueen’s new creative director after the death of McQueen in February. 

Showcasing McQueen’s menswear collection, it was inspired by English culture with it’s professional tailoring, trench coats, and baggy pants.

I’m excited to see more of the collection in the future. 

-C

Alexander McQueen- Fall 2010 Ready To Wear collection

The 16 showpieces from Alexander McQueen’s Fall 2010 collection presented in Paris, According to WWD, McQueen’s inspirations ranged from Byzantine art and Old Master paintings to the carvings of Grinling Gibbons, and each look was worn with a bronzed cap, some spiked with a Mohawk of gilded leaves like a Roman war helmet. 

This was McQueen’s last collection before he took his life. The Gucci Group named Sarah Burton as the label’s new creative chief, as reported in the WSJ. Burton, one of McQueen’s closest friends, joined the fashion house in 1996 and in 2000, McQueen sold a “majority stake” to Gucci Group. Burton was named head of women’s wear.

“The creation of modern beautifully crafted clothes was at the heart Lee’s Vision, I intend to stay true to is legacy”

R.I.P. Alexander McQueen, there was no other like you.

Cliché?

So as I flip through previous issues of Vogue, there have been countless times when I've seen photo shoots involving the grace of a ballerina.
As a former dancer of Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech for five years and a dance major at Talent Unlimited Arts HS,

I could see what so many designers and photographers love to capture.
Dancers and ballerinas seem to extract an essence of effortless beauty and strength.
 The history and roots of dance have grown tremendously ( I know, my teachers make us do research, sorry for the history lesson, but hey, that's where inspiration for so many designers have sprouted).
In the 1700s when the "Romantic Era" took place, ballerina's tutus became lighter and were cut to the ankles to show the dancer's pointe shoes.

Pointe shoes and the lighter tutus were made to give the illusion that the dancers were floating faeries.

Yes, these are the shoes that everyone refers to the "tippy-toe shoes" and yes, they hurt...

Alexander McQueen's last Spring fashion show's wild Armadillo show boots-in the words of the creator were inspired by a "vision of a ballerina standing en pointe" As told in WWD Accessories Spring 2010 issue. "The girls had to be really confident wearing them, they had to wear the shoes, not the other way around" reasoned the designer. These towering 9.4 inch-heeled beasts were far by, the most AMAZING shoes I have ever laid my eyes on...
Arthur Elgort's "Flights of Fancy" photo shoot with Caroline Trentini and the Billy Eliot Boys were featured in Vogue's September 2008 issue, the photo shoot was absolutely so beautiful that for my ballet class project on dance class, I cut out the pictures and pasted them on my poster board. Little did I know Arthur Elgort took a little visit to my high school and saw the pictures on our hallway's bulletin board. "One of your students has my work outside".  It was extremely awestruck that the 2 weeks after I fell in love with the pictures, THE PHOTOGRAPHER came to my high school and talked about it. Yeah, let's say my jaw kept dropping especially after he had a slide show of his past photo shoots, including "Flights of Fancy" and it was amazing the work behind such a beautiful, successful photo shoot can reveal. The design of the modern tutu have been become more and more amazing, as the gorgeous embroideries and jewels lay embedded on the luxurious silks and fabrics. Even the flow of certain fabrics like silks and chiffon or just looking at tulle reminds me of ballerina's tutus. Caroline Trentini makes me want to design a stunning tutu dress and sit on top of my backyard's basketball hoop... she definitely looks like a slam dunk. SCORE!

So, anyhoo... sorry guys! tangent! Even though yes, ballet is breathtakingly elegant and lovely, but when does this ever become, as they say for overplayed songs; "played out, yo!" ?
I mean, it is all beautiful, especially this Cinderella-inspired photo shoot from the Australian Ballet in Harper's Bazaar April 2010 shoot

But, how much can you keep expanding on the view of the ballerina? (Even though, of course, I always love it because dance and fashion incorporated is always a beautiful thing) Yes, I can perfectly see McQueen's view on his Armadillo shoes, but doesn't it all just become, sooner or later, well...cliché? 

Well, the only thing we can wait for is for time to tell. But, even though, I'll always love dance/ballet intertwined with the remarkable world of fashion.