Savage Beauty, Now Lost

On our last day in New York City Susan told me we were going to the Metropolitan Museum specifically to see a special exhibit of works of a young fashion designer who had died recently. OK, I had been wrong about Bye Bye Kitty but this idea was a deal-breaker. N-O-T interested. N-O-T going to see it, would go to the Hall of Armor instead and see some definite guy stuff. Do I need to tell you that an hour later I was walking into the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" exhibit?

There are times when you see an artist's work and you are just stunned by the vastness and depth of their creativity. There are times when your preconceived ideas are so wrong that you are totally humbled. This was one of those times. The dresses, the videos of the shows, the shoes, the acessories, everything ... everything was amazing. For me it wasn't about fashion or clothes, it was all art. And I do understand the difference between runway clothes and real-people clothes. He knew that if he threw art at you, you would be able to pare it down (sadly) to be just clothes.

 Alexander McQueen supposedly had a tattoo on his arm of this quote: " Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind." Perfect. Our short trips to New York City are always expensive but this one exhibit alone was well worth the whole cost. Go here and take the time to see more.

We went in early, just when the museum opened but the exhibit rooms were still very crowded and we had to shuffle along and wiggle around to get up close enough to read the signs. When we came out we saw a huge long line of people standing in line waiting to get in, as they had started controlling the number of people in the exhibit rooms. The wait was estimated to be 45 minutes! What?!?!  Why didn't they come earlier?

We took a break and had a cup of coffee at the American Cafe and then went up to the roof top exhibit where we saw over 30 people standing in line just to buy a drink. What!?!? There had been no line at the  Cafe. What is with the people in New York who will tolerate standing in long lines for food? Our friendly City native politely pointed out to me the fact that these were obviously tourists standing in line, as true City natives stand on line.

Well, in Texas we draw a line in the sand and choose to step over it.

Note: The Alexander McQueen show has turned out to be so popular and so crowded for viewing that the museum has extended the dates of the show and is now allowing special viewing times when the museum is normally closed. The ticket for this viewing time is $50. If we were to go back to the museum I would gladly pay that. And I'm basically a cheap guy. Yes, the show is that good.