McQueen goes Flat
While everyone is fixated on these heel-less babies from Briton Antonio Berardi, which cost £1,800 mind you, I’m more confused by a bunch of shoes that don’t have heels and won’t be the reason you sprained your ankle while trying to impress the cute guy standing on the opposite corner of 5th Ave. If you happened to riffle through the photos from Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2008 show, you’re train of thought might have been something like this, “Whoa, crazy hair. Is this what they meant by The New Goth, wait who are they again? If I were the bride of Frankenstein I’d totally wear that. Where’s all the color. Oh, there it is. This is totally Cinderella and Aladdin go to a Bollywood. Why haven’t I seen any high heels in about 20 pictures?”
I’m still not sure exactly what to think of the Alexander McQueen show. It’s almost like when you listen to a song, and all of the sudden you’re completely touched by it. You rush to a computer so you can figure out the lyrics, but when you read them you have no idea what they mean. I could probably look at the collection a hundred times and try to figure out what in the world McQueen was trying to say, but it’s sort of pointless. Of course there’s the stock answer he’s going to give about the collection, “I’ve got a 600-year-old elm tree in my garden, and I made up this story of a girl who lives in it and comes out of the darkness to meet a prince and become a queen,” but there’s always so much more. The collection is almost two completely different collections, but on some weird higher level they work together like night and day— the entire collection wouldn’t have worked without both pieces.
But, enough about the actual collection. I’m okay with being completely stumped about that. My question is why aren’t the models wearing high heels in the last 20-something outfits? I understand, and even enjoy when designers send a model or two sans 8 inch heels down the cat walk, but this was more than a couple models. Yes, the Mojaris were gorgeously made, but I kind of enjoy seeing how high designers can stack a platform. Maybe, McQueen was giving the model’s poor feet a rest after almost a month of brutally shoving them in everyone else’s torture devices heels. Or, maybe he liked the fact that the models almost look normal without 4″ stilettos making there already lengthy legs look even longer. Or, maybe, just maybe, Alexander is telling us we don’t have to confine ourselves to following the norms. We can do what ever we want as long as we can dream it. Disney would be proud!
