I was invigorated for two hours last Wednesday morning as I attended the Alexander McQueen exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my two BFF.  (Yes, I was one of the 17,500 new members to join the Met so that my two BFF and I could skip the two hour waiting line that wrapped around the second floor of the museum.)

I was engulfed in a world of fashion in all its forms — muslim, plaids, shells, wool, cotton, gauze, flowers, feathers, wood, steel, metal, and whatever else McQueen used to express his fashions, his accessories and his life. (I could not feel my feet after walking and standing on the hardwood floors, but it was well worth the trek and well worth the time spent.)

I was engaged in the music as I entered each room, from Tony Hymas, A Scent of Intrique, to the theme of Schindler’s List.

According to Sunday’s Style section of The New York Times, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, ranks among the museum’s 20 most popular exhibitions. Why did I love this exhibit SO MUCH?  Let me count the ways…or should I say let me count the McQueen quotes that I wrote down. (After I took so much time to write down each quote, sneaking in-between many people’s legs and feet, I bought the exhibition catalog, like 55,000 others who attended the exhibition, so I could forever read the quotes and view McQueen’s fashions.)

“I want to empower women.  I want people to be afraid of the women I dress,” said McQueen. (As a boomer woman, I especially liked this quote.  I so agree with McQueen.  I want the clothes I wear to empower me.  When I look good, I feel more empowered.)

“With bustles and nipped waists, I was interested in the idea that there are no constraints on the silhouette.  I wanted to exaggerate a woman’s form, almost along the lines of a classical statue,” said McQueen. (I just adore McQueen’s poetic license with fashion and his thinking about the female body. Don’t you?  I know Lady Gaga does too, since she wears all his clothes and pedestal shoes.)

“With bumsters, I wanted to elongate the body, not just show the bum.  To me, that part of the body — not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine — that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman,” said McQueen. (I now have a new appreciation for my boomer bum.)

“It is important to look at death because it is part of life.  It is a sad thing, melancholy, but romantic at the same time.  It is the end of a cycle — everything has an end.  The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things,” said McQueen.  (Wow, oh, wow.  This quote blows you away, doesn’t it?  How sad McQueen died so young.  He was such a talented artist, designer, historian, creator and a whole lot more.)

“There is no way back for me now.  I am going to take you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.”  (Yes, this exhibit was an amazing journey that I will never forget, especially since I bought the $45 exhibition book. Being the frustrated fashionista I am, I’ll cherish and remember it forever.)

While the exhibit is only at the Met for another week, I urge you to visit if you have the opportunity.  It is well worth the wait.  Go with your two BFF and you will enjoy it even more.  Then do as we did, and have a relaxing lunch at the cafe at the Centrolire restaurant on Madison Avenue not too far from the Met.  But, before you leave NYC, be sure to stop at La Maison Du Chocolat (on Madison Avenue too) for a cup of chocolate sorbet or chocolate or caramel ice cream, like my two BFFs and I did before catching the train home.  Ooh, la, la – next stop Paris absolumont!

Judi