The Widows of Culloden

Concept and creative process

The Widows of Culloden (Autumn/Winter 2006) is the twenty-eighth womenswear collection designed by McQueen for his eponymous

fashion house. McQueen spoke of wanting to "show a more poetic side" of his work with the collection.^[19] The collection was inspired by McQueen's Scottish ancestry, his love for the natural world, and Shakespeare's Scottish play Macbeth.^[20][21][22] Its name comes from the women who were widowed following the Battle of Culloden (1746).^[23] This engagement marked the defeat of the Jacobite rising of 1745, in which Charles Edward Stuart raised a Scots Jacobite army and attempted to regain the British throne. The battle led to British efforts to dismantle the Scottish clan system and ban the wearing of tartan, and has historically been mythologized as a conflict between Scotland and England.^[24][25]

Widows features the return of many of McQueen's signature elements: sharp

tailoring, altered silhouettes, and a dark yet romantic atmosphere.^[26] Multiple authors described it as something of a greatest hits collection for the designer.^[27][28][29] Soft dresses and flowing evening gowns accompanied McQueen's typical tailored suits and dresses.^[30][31] The light, ethereal aspect of many of the dresses is credited to McQueen's time at Givenchy, where he learned le flou, the dressmaking side of haute couture.^[31][32] McQueen personally created many patterns from the collection.^[21]

Many elements from the collection were taken directly from or referred to traditional

Many ensembles incorporated historical elements and allusions to other designers. Fashion historian Judith Watt noted references to the Arts and Crafts movement, as well as the S-bend silhouette common in the fashion of the 1870s and 1880s.^[29] The use of wasp waists, bustles, close tailoring, and belted jackets can be seen as a reference to Victorian and 1950s fashion.^[49][50][51] Some designs alluded to the military uniforms of World War II, and model Spitfire planes were repurposed as hair accessories.^[10][52] The winged headpieces referenced a series of winged headdresses made by Italian couturier Elsa Schiaparelli in the 1930s.^[53] Several of the evening gowns took inspiration from a dress designed in 1987 by fellow British designer John Galliano, nicknamed the "shellfish dress" for its layers of white organza ruffles that resembled stacked clamshells. McQueen had long admired and sought to emulate the complicated construction of the original.^[54]

Runway show

Staging and design

The runway show for The Widows of Culloden was staged on 3 March 2006 at the

Gosling's soundtrack incorporates songs from the 1993 film The Piano, scored by Michael Nyman; Scottish bagpipes and drums, various punk rock tracks, and a sound effect of howling wind.^[23][38] McQueen intended to use a track commissioned from Nyman for the finale, but dropped it in favour of a song from the soundtrack of the 1993 film Schindler's List.^[a][23][65] Scottish historian Murray Pittock wrote that the use of the Schindler's List song "suggested an analogy between Culloden and the Holocaust".^[66]

Show

Audience members entered the space through a large glass pyramid.^[34] Seats were arranged around a square stage of rough wood, reminiscent of the wooden stage in his collection No. 13 (Spring/Summer 1999). Another glass pyramid was placed in the centre of the square, leaving a catwalk in which the models walked counter-clockwise.^[34][67] In contrast to Highland Rape, when the models staggered or stalked angrily down the runway, the models in Widows moved in a stoic, upright manner which Gleason described as "the attitude of warrior princesses".^[34][48]

Widows of Culloden comprised fifty-one ensembles across three broad phases, each look worn by a different model.

The show opened with Ukrainian model Snejana Onopka wearing a tweed suit with a fur collar, cream shirt with ruffled front, and tan-coloured leather boots. The look was styled with the "Bird's Nest" headdress, made from a pair of mallard duck wings surrounding a silver bird's nest with blue eggs made from quartz Swarovski crystals, speckled to look like duck eggs.^[38][57][73] The nest and eggs were created by British jeweller Shaun Leane, while the headpiece was made by Treacy; both of whom were long-time McQueen collaborators.^[48][73]

Look 12 was a full-length dress covered entirely in pheasant feathers. Its long torso and flared lower portion reference the style of gowns from the 1890s.^[1][57] Researcher Kate Bethune described the unique construction of the dress: "each of the feathers has been individually hand-stitched onto a length of ribbon, and then these lengths of ribbon have been stitched onto a net ground".^[74] Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian called it "meticulously engineered" and likened it to a full-length dress made of razor clam shells from Voss (Spring/Summer 2001).^[40] Fashion theorist Jonathan Faiers wrote that the lavish use of game bird feathers evoked Scotland's transformation into a "sports arena for absentee English landlords" in the late Victorian era.^[53]

Look 14 was a blouse and

Look 33 was a one-shouldered tartan dress with tulle underskirt, styled with an undershirt of sheer fabric with rose designs in black, creating an illusion of arm and chest tattoos.^[23][57] The model's waist was cinched by a large belt in dark leather with a Celtic buckle.^[23] Roses paired with plaid was a combination used on some Jacobite clothing.^[76] On the runway, it was styled with the "Bird Skull" headpiece, which featured black feathers and a silver-case eagle skull set with dark Swarovski crystals.^[73]

Brazilian model

Look 48 was a flowing gown in off-white chiffon, worn by Australian model Gemma Ward, with butterflies placed in the hair as accessories.^[57] Both Judith Watt and fashion journalist Dana Thomas described it as an evolution of the oyster dress from Irere (Spring/Summer 2003), which was inspired by Galliano's shellfish dress.^[54][83] Cartner-Morley connected the use of butterflies to the final showpiece of Voss, in which artist Michelle Olley was "besieged by giant moths".^[40]

Reception

Contemporary reviews were highly positive.

Many reviews noted that the collection was both artistic and commercially viable.[21]^[26][50] McQueen did not always achieve this balance – his designs were notorious for being unwearable – so critics felt this was a positive development for his brand.^[35][90][91] According to Jonathan Akeroyd, then CEO of the Alexander McQueen brand, the looks chosen for the runway "represented about half of what was available" for sale from the collection.^[84] Akeroyd reported that sales were strong for the collection and credited the theatrical runway show for driving brand awareness.^[84] Writing in the International Herald Tribune, fashion journalist Suzy Menkes concurred, calling the collection's eveningwear "a brand image-maker".^[92] Several of the evening gowns were suitable for ordering as custom bridal gowns.^[21]

Writing for Vogue, Sarah Mower called it a "timely reconfirmation of McQueen's unique powers as a showman-designer".^[57] For The Daily Telegraph, Hilary Alexander said that it "restored the true spirit of the romantic renegade to the catwalk".^[68] Lisa Armstrong at The Times wrote that "almost every item was a showstopper but also eminently wearable", although she called the Moss illusion "unspeakably cheesy".^[50] According to Susannah Frankel at The Independent, the show was "a return to the unbridled spectacle and raw power with which he made his name", citing its "juxtaposition of fragility and strength, masculinity and femininity".^[35]

The collection is viewed favourably in retrospect. In a 2011 interview with Vogue, Sarah Burton, who succeeded McQueen as the label's head after he died in 2010, described Widows as one of his most iconic collections.^[78] In 2012, Judith Watt called the sculptural aspects of some designs close to the "purist cutting of Cristóbal Balenciaga", a Spanish designer known for technical precision and unique silhouettes.^[93][94] Dana Thomas said that Widows represented a "Best of McQueen in the 1990s" in her 2015 book Gods and Kings, writing that many ensembles appeared to be revisions of McQueen's own earlier designs.^[27] British fashion curator Claire Wilcox described Widows in 2016 as a "masterly, romantic collection".^[20] Edinburgh-based journalists Caroline Young and Ann Martin wrote that the collection's slim-fit tailored tartan suits "presented the designer's refined craftsmanship at its very best".^[33] Speaking in 2020, author Vixy Rae said "it had a focus of extreme technicality matched with richness of imagery with ideas taken directly from Scottish costume".^[7]

Analysis

Autobiography and historicism

McQueen's work was highly autobiographical: he incorporated elements of his memories, feelings, and personal fixations into his designs and runway shows.^[95][96] Widows, with its emotional focus on both McQueen's and Scotland's history, is generally regarded as one of his most autobiographical collections.^[35][97][98] Deborah Bell, a professor of costume design, cited curator Andrew Bolton in noting that the "romantic version of historic narrative" from Highland Rape and Widows was "profoundly autobiographical" for McQueen, and suggests this is the reason that it was so impactful.^[99] Fashion theorists Paul Jobling, Philippa Nesbitt, and Angelene Wong called the collection "a personal reckoning with [McQueen's] own past", particularly his relationships with his mother, sister, and Isabella Blow.^[100] Women's Wear Daily noted that "the clothes seemed perfectly to describe McQueen's own eccentric point of view".^[21]

Historical references are a major component of The Widows of Culloden, resulting in critical discussion over whether the collection is modernist or historicist. Cultural theorist Monika Seidl discussed Widows as a collection in the vein of Romanticism, a 19th century movement which emphasised emotion and glorification of the past.^[101] She cites it as an example of fashion that "self-confidently plays around with time when fragments from the past are blatantly and visibly reactivated as the new look of the moment".^[102] Cathy Horyn of The New York Times argues that McQueen was "a storyteller", which positioned him as anti-modernist.^[103] She criticised the historical elements in Widows as an unnecessary obstacle between McQueen and his designs.^[103] Historian Jack Gann argued that, in effect, it was both: the modern and historical elements combined to show that "perception of our place in time is simultaneously of multiple eras".^[104]

Costume curator Lilia Destin noted that the collection subverted typical historical narratives by decentring warriors in favour of their widows, and wrote that it "awards their ghosts a sense of transhistorical agency through memory".^[105] Jobling, Nesbitt, and Wong argued that McQueen's description of Widows as more "triumphant" than Highland Rape actually indicates that the widows are celebrating, not mourning, the deaths of their husbands.^[106] Historian Timothy Campbell wrote about Highland Rape and Widows in the coda to his 2016 book Historical Style, describing them as counter-arguments to the notion that traumatic events in history must be experienced only in a state of grief. In Campbell's words, "McQueen suggests, Culloden must first be resurrected or remade as something other than tragedy in order to be historically impactful".^[107]

Highland Rape and Scottish culture

Widows served as a counterpart to Highland Rape, which was also heavily inspired by Scottish culture. In comparison, Widows has been described as less angry and more reflective.^[1][23][33] McQueen himself reflected that Widows displayed a more positive view of Scotland, and related the difference to his own mental health, saying "I'm in a much clearer head space now than I was when I did the Highland."^[26] The collections were discussed together in a 2014 BBC Alba documentary, McQueen of Scots, which explored McQueen's Scottish heritage and its influence on his designs.^[108]

Art historian Ghislaine Wood wrote that the "two collections provided contrasting but cathartic narratives on specific historical events ... and in many ways they reflect the complexity and drama of McQueen's vision".^[26] Authors Katherine Gleason and Ana Finel Honigman, writing separately, both felt that the use of tartan in Widows had evolved compared to Highland Rape. Gleason felt that the tartan items in Widows were "more polished, softened with ruffles and embroidery", while Honigman called them "more structured and elegant".^[48][109] To Lisa Armstrong, the restrained nature of Widows, compared to the overt political rage of Highland Rape, was a sign of maturity.^[50] Murray Pittock viewed both collections as part of the evolution and worldwide dissemination of tartan since the 1990s.^[52]

While softer than Highland Rape, Widows is nonetheless interpreted as a statement about the appropriation of Scottish culture in a wider British context. McQueen's use of tartan in Widows, and the

Critics have described The Widows of Culloden as an exploration of

In McCaffrey's view, Widows exemplified melancholy – in the Gothic sense of "tensions between beauty and heartache" – through its visual staging.[34] The stoic performance of the models represented a dignified grief that he likened to "visions of gothic heroines stalking the candle-lit corridors of an ancient castle".^[34] McCaffrey called the illusion of Kate Moss an example of highly staged melancholy, with every element contributing to the audience's emotional involvement.^[34] Kate Bethune presented a similar analysis, noting that the collection's sense of melancholy was "consolidated in its memorable finale".^[23] For Faiers, the models, and especially the Moss illusion, represented "the ghosts of the past unable to contend with the march of fashionable progress".^[10] The Bird's Nest headdress and the Bird Skull headpiece from Looks 1 and 33 respectively have been discussed as a set which represents the cycle of life and death, and the fragility of beauty.^[73]

Discussing McQueen's proclivity for the gothic more generally, the professor of literature Catherine Spooner highlighted his fascination with dark aspects of history. She noted that in several of his most historical collections, including Highland Rape, Widows, and In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692 (Autumn/Winter 2007), the "distressed fabric; screen-printed photographs; fragments of historical dress disassembled and reordered" reflect the disturbing aspects of history he drew on for inspiration.^[111] Author Chloe Fox wrote that McQueen had "mined the refined sense of an aristocratic past" to produce the collection.^[45] Literature professor Fiona Robertson found that McQueen's Scottish collections and the historical novels of Scottish writer Walter Scott epitomised the Scottish style of gothic by focusing on the country's "broken and self-alienated national history".^[116]

The mood of Widows may be read as part of a shift toward darkness and melancholy as an aesthetic in fashion, which some authors have argued was a response to global turmoil and increased nihilism following the turn of the century.^{[92][117][118]} Art historian Bonnie English noted that McQueen was one of a number of major designers, including Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto, and Marc Jacobs, who produced sombre collections for the Fall/Winter 2006 season.^[119] In a 2019 New York Times essay discussing the cultural archetype of the melancholy woman, writer Leslie Jamison described Highland Rape and Widows as emblematic of an "aesthetic of suffering" in fashion.^[120]

White gowns

The lace gown with veiled antlers – the Widow's Weeds – has provoked significant critical response, much of which focused on the theatrical and animalistic effect created by the headdress.^[121] McQueen later said that the look "worked because it looks like she's rammed the piece of lace with her antlers".^[1] Lisa Skogh wrote that the veil over the antlers suggested a "dramatic bridal crown".^[122] Watt described it as "creating a phantasmagorical hybrid beast-woman".^[29] Author Sarah Heaton noted that the antlers "insist on the feminine relationship to the land, nature, and psyche".^[123]

Both the antlered gown and the chiffon gown worn by Moss have been analysed as wedding dresses. From this perspective, the antlered gown has been read as especially ambiguous: the veil can be seen as entrapping, protecting, or concealing the bride who wears it.^[77] It has drawn comparisons to the wedding dress obsessively worn by the spinster Miss Havisham in the novel Great Expectations (1861).^[124][125]

Heaton, whose work focuses on the intersection between fashion and literature, described these two long white dresses as "revisionist" wedding gowns that evoke the Gothic to subvert its limitations.^[79] In her view, the lace veil uplifted on the antlers of McQueen's ensemble is reminiscent of Miss Havisham's wedding veil, but where Miss Havisham's veil is shroud-like and grotesque, the veil of McQueen's design "suggests the strength of femininity".^[126] The illusion of Moss, on the other hand, evokes the Gothic trope of the barefoot "mad woman"; normally this figure would be confined to an attic or asylum, but again McQueen subverts the expectation by displaying her to the public, making her ephemeral and uncontained.^[126]

Cultural theorist Monika Seidl considered the same pair of gowns from a more critical perspective in 2009, arguing that they framed their wearers "as trophy and ... as victim".^[127] For Seidl, far from presenting feminine strength, the antlers in combination with the gamekeepers' clothing referenced earlier in the show evoked an image of the bride as a hunting trophy.^[127] She viewed the Moss illusion as presenting a contained "Wiedergänger" or vengeful spirit.^[127] However, she described both dresses as persuasive in the way they "destabilise the notion of a bride".^[127]

Other analyses

Post-humanist theorist Justyna Stępień argued that McQueen's use of unusual silhouettes and structures, particularly in Widows and Plato's Atlantis (Spring/Summer 2010), provoked an emotional reaction in the audience and forced them to reconsider their perception of the human body.^[97]

Analysing McQueen's tendency to incorporate and reinterpret styles from various cultures, Esguerra and Hansen compared the use of Highland dress in Widows to the interpretation of

In an analysis of fashion as a performative intersection of sex and gender, Paul Jobling, Philippa Nesbitt, and Angelene Wong examined Widows as a "poetic text" relating to McQueen's identity as a gay man, and his ideal of feminine empowerment through fashion.[98] They examined McQueen's use of feathers as a subversion and expansion of typical gender roles which see men as predators and women as prey. In their analysis, the models resemble bird-women in mythology, such as the Greek Harpy and the Russian Gamayun, who are beautiful yet dangerous threats to "phallocentric male power".^[98] McQueen's use of animal motifs thus allows women to explore different types of femininity and female power, without being constrained to any particular binary.^[129] They further argue that McQueen's combination of "masculine" tartan with "feminine" fabrics like lace is another subversion of the gender binary, allowing the widows to step into a liberated role following the deaths of their husbands.^[106]

Writer

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker attended the opening of the 2006 AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) wearing a version of Look 33 from Widows, the one-shouldered tartan dress. McQueen accompanied her wearing a matching tartan great kilt.^[1][37] Elizabeth McMeekin called it a "chic, tremendously of the-moment" choice.^[30]

Dresses from Widows have appeared in magazine photoshoots and editorials. Gemma Ward wore Look 33 for an editorial fashion shoot in the July 2006 issue of Harper's Bazaar, styled with the Spitfire headpiece from Look 44.^[57][133] Moss wore the original dress from the illusion on the cover of the May 2011 issue of Harper's Bazaar UK.^[134][135] Look 47, The Widow's Weeds, and Look 48, the chiffon dress with butterfly accessories, appeared in "Dark Angel", a 2015 retrospective editorial of McQueen's work in British Vogue by fashion photographer Tim Walker.^[136]

Fashion collector Jennifer Zuiker auctioned her McQueen collection in 2020, including at least two pieces from Widows. A tartan dress, Look 30 from the runway show, sold for a reported $9,375, and a floral ballgown, Look 50, sold for a reported $68,750.^{[137][138][139]}

The Alexander McQueen brand archive in London retains ownership of several looks from the collection, including the Widow's Weeds and the pheasant feather dress.^[140] Swarovski owns the Bird's Nest and Bird Skull headdresses.^[141] The Met owns the original Look 33 tartan dress ensemble with the sheer undershirt, as well as Look 30, another tartan dress.^[142][143] The Victoria and Albert Museum (the V&A) in London owns a variant of the Kate Moss dress.^[144] The Los Angeles County Museum of Art owns several pieces from the collection.^[145] The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Australia owns 14 ensembles and mockups from Widows, including Look 33 and Look 50.^{[146][147][148]} The majority of these were gifted by philanthropist Krystyna Campbell-Pretty in 2016 as part of a larger collection.^[149]

Museum exhibitions

Several ensembles from Widows – at least five tartan looks, the pheasant feather dress, and the Widow's Weeds – appeared in Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective exhibition of McQueen's designs shown in 2011 at The Met and in 2015 at the V&A.^{[1][150][151]} The Kate Moss illusion made an appearance at both versions of the exhibition. In the original presentation at the Met, the illusion was recreated in miniature, but in the V&A restaging, it was presented in full size in its own room.^{[b][153][154]} The NGV displayed the collection donated by Campbell-Pretty in 2019 as the Krystyna Campbell-Pretty Fashion Gift. The exhibition included items from several McQueen collections, including Widows.^[149]

Look 50, a floral ballgown, appeared in China: Through the Looking Glass, a 2015 exhibition at The Met.^[155]

Items from the collection appeared in the 2022 exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, first shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and later in expanded form at the National Gallery of Victoria.^{[156][157][158]} Widows was placed in the Fashioned Narratives section of the exhibition, which highlighted collections focused on original and historical stories.^[159]

Mind, Mythos, Muse compared one sleeveless dress with high-necked ruff and gold beading from the Widows collection to the ruffed and embroidered outfit worn by King Louis XIII of France in the painting Portrait of Louis XIII, King of France as a Boy by Flemish painter Frans Pourbus II (c. 1616).^[156] Two tartan ensembles from the runway show were compared to a 1780 portrait of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton by John Singleton Copley. During the time the portrait was painted, the wearing of tartan in Scotland was prohibited, except for soldiers and veterans, by the Dress Act of 1746. In Copley's painting, Montgomerie, wearing tartan, poses triumphantly over defeated Cherokee warriors. In reality, Montgomerie was not present at the battle being depicted, which occurred during the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1760; nor was it a British victory. The exhibition presents the Widows outfits as a counterpoint to the colonialist narrative in the portrait.^[160]

Notes

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} "Widows of Culloden". Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
2. BBC Magazine. Archived
   from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
3. ^ Doig, Stephen (30 January 2023). "How Alexander McQueen changed the world of fashion – by the people who knew him best". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023.
4. ^ Carwell, Nick (26 May 2016). "Savile Row's best tailors: Alexander McQueen". GQ. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
5. ProQuest 332622084
   .
6. ^ Wilson 2015, pp. 13, 19–20.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Webster, Laura (8 February 2020). "Remembering Alexander McQueen's links to Scotland, 10 years on from his death". The National. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
8. ^ ^{a b c} Wilson 2015, pp. 137–138.
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Tonti, Lucianne (20 May 2022). "Major Alexander McQueen exhibition to open in Victoria in late 2022". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Faiers, Jonathan (30 June 2011). "McQueen and Tartan". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
11. ^ Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 28.
12. ^ ^{a b} Gleason 2012, p. 32.
13. ^ ^{a b} Elenowitz-Hess 2022, p. 400.
14. ^ Elenowitz-Hess 2022, p. 403.
15. ^ Knox 2010, p. 10.
16. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived
    from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
17. ^ "Tartan Details – MacQueen". Scottish Register of Tartans. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
18. ^ ^{a b} Young & Martin 2017, p. 198.
19. ^ Watt 2012, p. 229.
20. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 214.
21. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Range Crew". Women's Wear Daily. 6 March 2006. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2022 – via Gale.
22. ^ ^{a b} Keane, Brendan Patrick (12 February 2010). "Looking back on Alexander McQueen's Gaelic Scottish designs and his insult to Prince Charles "Windsor"". Irish Central. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
23. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Bethune, Kate (2015). "Encyclopedia of Collections: The Widows of Culloden". The Museum of Savage Beauty. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
24. ^ Royle 2017, pp. vii, 113–115.
25. ^ Pittock 2016, pp. 113, 150–152.
26. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Wood 2015, p. 51.
27. ^ ^{a b c} Thomas 2015, p. 337.
28. ^ ^{a b c} Gleason 2012, p. 147.
29. ^ ^{a b c d} Watt 2012, p. 231.
30. ^ ^{a b c d} McMeekin, Elizabeth (20 May 2006). "Clothes horse: Tartan". The Herald. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
31. ^ ^{a b} Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 14.
32. ^ ^{a b c d} Young & Martin 2017, p. 143.
33. ^ ^{a b c} Young & Martin 2017, p. 97.
34. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} McCaffrey 2020.
35. ^ ^{a b c d} Frankel, Susannah (4 March 2006). "The ghost of Kate Moss looms above McQueen show". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
36. ^ Esguerra & Hansen 2022, p. 77.
37. ^ ^{a b} Bowles 2014, p. 96.
38. ^ ^{a b c d} Birringer 2016, pp. 27–28.
39. ^ Young & Martin 2017, pp. 108–110.
40. ^ ^{a b c d} Cartner-Morley, Jess (4 March 2006). "McQueen's modern Macbeth". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
41. ^ Cartner-Morley, Jess (10 February 2015). "Alexander McQueen: Into the Light". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
42. ^ Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 15.
43. ^ ^{a b} Fox 2012, pp. 116, 123.
44. ^ ^{a b} Young & Martin 2017, p. 144.
45. ^ ^{a b c d} Fox 2012, p. 116.
46. ^ ^{a b c} Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 345.
47. ^ Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, p. 17.
48. ^ ^{a b c d} Gleason 2012, p. 148.
49. ^ "Paris Fashion Week". The Mail on Sunday. 26 March 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022 – via Gale.
50. ^ ^{a b c d e} Armstrong, Lisa (4 March 2006). "Is it big or skinny? The answer is both; Paris Fashion Week". The Times. p. 29. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
51. ^ Faiers 2015, p. 134.
52. ^ ^{a b c} Pittock 2022, p. 407.
53. ^ ^{a b} Faiers 2015, p. 133.
54. ^ ^{a b} Thomas 2015, pp. 56, 275, 338.
55. ^ Deniau 2012, p. 21.
56. ^ Fletcher, Adam (1 May 2015). "Do you remember your first fashion show?". i-D. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
57. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Mower, Sarah (2 March 2006). "Alexander McQueen Fall 2006 ready-to-wear collection". Vogue. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
58. ^ Fox 2012, p. 79.
59. ^ Pool, Hannah (29 April 2006). "Weekend: Beauty: The New Black". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
60. ^ Cartner-Morley, Jess (6 November 2013). "Katy England: Kate Moss, Alexander McQueen and the art of styling". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
61. ^ de Klerk, Amy (1 April 2020). "Alexander McQueen is encouraging followers to get creative at home". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
62. SHOWstudio
    . 16 March 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
63. ^ "McQueen". Michael Nyman. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
64. ^ "Redfive Creative". Redfive. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
65. ^ ^{a b} Solís, Jose (30 July 2018). "The Making of 'McQueen': The Emotional Journey of Honoring a Fashion Legend". The Film Stage. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
66. ^ Pittock 2016, p. 157.
67. ^ ^{a b} Young & Martin 2017, pp. 143–144.
68. ^ ^{a b c d e} Alexander, Hilary (4 March 2006). "Kinky boots and clan tartan from the Kaiser and McQueen". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022 – via Gale.
69. ^ Gleason 2012, p. 151.
70. ^ Gleason 2012, p. 152.
71. ^ Khan 2013, p. 267.
72. ^ Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, p. 24.
73. ^ ^{a b c d} "'Bird's Nest' headdress". The Museum of Savage Beauty. Victoria and Albert Museum. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
74. The Cut. Archived
    from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
75. ^ ^{a b} Esguerra & Hansen 2022, pp. 119, 125.
76. ^ Haye 2020, p. 25.
77. ^ ^{a b c} Gleason 2012, pp. 150–151.
78. ^ ^{a b c} Bowles 2014, pp. 176–177.
79. ^ ^{a b} Heaton 2017, p. 84.
80. ^ Murdoch 2013, p. 69.
81. ^ "Alexander McQueen's Most Memorable Collections". Harper's Bazaar. 9 October 2014. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
82. ^ Fairer & Wilcox 2016, pp. 174, 176.
83. ^ Watt 2012, p. 230.
84. ^ ^{a b c d} Socha, Miles (3 April 2006). "The Real McQueen". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
85. ^ Thomas 2015, p. 287.
86. ^ Loschek 2009, p. 81.
87. ^ "Fall 2006; The Top Ten Collections". Women's Wear Daily. 3 April 2006. p. 111. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
88. ^ Hall, Cecily; Kaiser, Emily (30 March 2006). "Fashion Takes Paris". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 191, no. 67. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
89. ^ ^{a b} Givhan, Robin (7 March 2006). "Beware Red Ink On the Runway". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
90. ^ Muther, Christopher (1 August 2018). "Alexander McQueen: clothes that were shocking by design". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
91. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (6 June 2018). "McQueen review – meticulous portrait of fashion's master of audacity". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
92. ^ ^{a b} Menkes, Suzy (7 March 2006). "Taking the high road to romance". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
93. ^ Watt 2012, p. 232.
94. ^ Mackrell 2005, p. 151.
95. ^ Thomas 2015, pp. 85, 153, 329.
96. ^ Fairer & Wilcox 2016, p. 52.
97. ^ ^{a b} Stępień 2020, p. 72.
98. ^ ^{a b c} Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, p. 15.
99. ^ Bell 2014, p. 190.
100. ^ Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, pp. 134–135.
101. ^ Damrosch 1985, pp. 404–425.
102. ^ Seidl 2009, pp. 221–222.
103. ^ ^{a b} Horyn, Cathy (6 March 2006). "Modern? Not Necessarily". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Gale.
104. ^ Evans & Vaccari 2020, pp. 28–29.
105. ^ Destin, Lilia (25 June 2022). "The Queer Imagination and Fiercely Feminine Designs of Lee Alexander McQueen". LACMA Unframed. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
106. ^ ^{a b} Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, p. 25.
107. ^ Campbell 2016, p. 284.
108. ^ "McQueen of Scots: Designer's Scots heritage explored". BBC News. 24 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
109. ^ Honigman 2021, p. 137.
110. ^ Gardiner, Karen (6 April 2015). "Tartan Day: a great opportunity to learn about the pattern's rebellious history". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
111. ^ ^{a b} Spooner, Catherine (11 March 2015a). "The gothic vision at the heart of Alexander McQueen's savage beauty". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
112. ^ Franck 2020, p. 244.
113. ^ ^{a b} Snodgrass 2014, pp. 226–227.
114. ^ Birch 2009, pp. 429–430.
115. ^ Hogle 2002, pp. 2–3.
116. ^ Robertson 2017, p. 102.
117. The Globe & Mail. Archived
     from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
118. ^ Foley, Bridget (16 May 2006). "Wild Flowers". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
119. ^ English 2013, p. 158.
120. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
     from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
121. ^ Valentine 2019, p. 219.
122. ^ Skogh 2015, p. 183.
123. ^ Heaton 2017, p. 95.
124. ^ Heaton 2017, pp. 84, 95.
125. ^ Spooner 2015, p. 143.
126. ^ ^{a b} Heaton 2017, pp. 95–96.
127. ^ ^{a b c d} Seidl 2009, p. 224.
128. ^ Esguerra & Hansen 2022, pp. 14–15.
129. ^ Jobling, Nesbitt & Wong 2022, pp. 18–20.
130. ^ Atherton 2012, pp. 47–53.
131. ^ Tegan 2021, pp. 94–95.
132. ^ Tegan 2021, pp. 110–111.
133. ^ "Editorial: "The News from Paris"". Harper's Bazaar. July 2006. p. 75.
134. ^ Cowles, Charlotte (30 March 2011). "Kate Moss Wears Two Alexander McQueen Dresses for Harper's Bazaar U.K.'s 'Fashion Royalty' Issue". The Cut. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
135. ^ Andrews, Jessica C. (23 September 2014). "The Most Dramatic Fashion-Show Stunts of All Time". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
136. ^ Walker, Tim; Fox, Chloe (March 2015). "Dark Angel". British Vogue. pp. 351, 354.
137. ^ Yotka, Steff (25 August 2020). "A treasure trove of Alexander McQueen pieces will go up for auction this September". Vogue. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
138. ^ "McQueen Tartan Wool Dress, 'The Widows of Culloden', Autumn-Winter, 2006". Doyle New York. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
139. ^ "Floral Print Ballroom Gown, 'The Widows of Culloden', Autumn-Winter, 2006". Doyle New York. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
140. ^ Bolton 2011, pp. 232, 234.
141. ^ Bolton 2011, p. 235.
142. ^ "Ensemble". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
143. ^ "Dress". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
144. ^ Museum, Victoria and Albert. "Widows of Culloden | Alexander McQueen | V&A Explore The Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
145. ^ Esguerra & Hansen 2022, pp. 170–171.
146. ^ "Artists | NGV". National Gallery of Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
147. ^ "Look 33, dress". National Gallery of Victoria. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
148. ^ "Ball gown". National Gallery of Victoria. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
149. ^ ^{a b} Cox, Will (27 February 2019). "A Huge Haute Couture Collection Has Come to the NGV". Broadsheet. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
150. ^ Alexander, Hilary (2 May 2011). "Alexander McQueen's 'Savage Beauty' honoured in style". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
151. ^ Tegan 2021, p. 95.
152. ^ Birringer 2016, p. 27.
153. The Cut. Archived
     from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
154. ^ Yeo 2020, p. 139.
155. ^ Bolton 2015, p. 243.
156. ^ ^{a b} Callahan, Michael (26 April 2022). "Looking at Alexander McQueen With Fresh Eyes". W. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
157. ^ "Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse". Australian Arts Review. 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
158. ^ Yee, Hannah-Rose (19 May 2022). "A breathtaking Alexander McQueen exhibition is coming to the NGV this year". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
159. ^ Esguerra & Hansen 2022, pp. 57, 77.
160. ^ Crawford, Holly M.; Esguerra, Clarissa; Hansen, Michaela; Lehmbeck, Leah (26 August 2022). "Flipping Stereotypes on Their Stilettos with Native Voices". LACMA Unframed. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

Bibliography

Books

• Bell, Deborah (2014). "Masquerades of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano". In Bell, Deborah (ed.). Masquerade: Essays on Tradition and Innovation Worldwide. Jefferson, North Carolina:
  ISBN 978-0-7864-7646-6. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Birch, Dinah, ed. (2009). "Gothic fiction". The Oxford Companion to English Literature (7th ed.). Oxford:
  ISBN 978-0191735066. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• ISBN 978-1-58839-412-5
  .
• ISBN 9780300211122
  .
• Bowles, Hamish (2014). Vogue & the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute: Parties, Exhibitions, People (1st ed.). New York:
  OCLC 871511830
  .
• Campbell, Timothy (2016). Historical Style: Fashion and the New Mode of History, 1740–1830. Philadelphia:
  ISBN 978-0-8122-9304-3. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Damrosch, Leopold (1985). Adventures in English Literature. Orlando, Florida:
  ISBN 0153350458
  .
• OCLC 785067241
  .
• English, Bonnie (2013). A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries: From Catwalk to Sidewalk. London:
  ISBN 978-0-85785-136-9. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Esguerra, Clarissa M.; Hansen, Michaela (2022). Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse.
  OCLC 1289986708
  .
• Evans, Caroline; Vaccari, Alessandra (2020). "Time in Fashion: An Introductory Essay". Time in Fashion: Industrial, Antilinear and Uchronic Temporalities. London:
  ISBN 978-1-350-14696-9. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• OCLC 946216643
  .
• Fox, Chloe (2012). Vogue on: Alexander McQueen. Vogue on Designers. London: Quadrille Publishing.
  OCLC 828766756. Archived
  from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Franck, Kaja (2020). "The Wilderness". In Bloom, Clive (ed.). The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic. London:
  ISBN 978-3-030-33136-8. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Gleason, Katherine (2012). Alexander McQueen: Evolution. New York City:
  ISBN 978-1-61058-837-9. Archived
  from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Haye, Amy de la (2020). The Rose in Fashion: Ravishing. New Haven, Connecticut:
  ISBN 978-0-300-25008-4. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Heaton, Sarah (2017). "Wayward Wedding Dresses". In Whitehead, Julia; Petrov, Gudrun D. (eds.). Fashioning Horror. London:
  ISBN 978-1350036215. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
• Hogle, Jerrold E., ed. (2002). "Introduction". The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Cambridge Companions to Literature. Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-521-79124-3. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Honigman, Ana Finel (2021). What Alexander McQueen Can Teach You About Fashion. London:
  ISBN 978-0-7112-5906-5
  .
• Jobling, Paul; Nesbitt, Philippa; Wong, Angelene (2022). Fashion, Identity, Image. London:
  ISBN 978-1-350-18323-0. Archived
  from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
• Khan, Nathalie (2013). "Fashion as Mythology: Considering the Legacy of Alexander McQueen". In Bruzzi, Stella; Gibson, Pamela Church (eds.). Fashion Cultures Revisited. London:
  ISBN 978-0415680059
  .
• Knox, Kristin (2010). Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation. London:
  ISBN 978-1-4081-3223-4. Archived
  from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Loschek, Ingrid (2009). When Clothes Become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems. Oxford:
  ISBN 978-0-85785-144-4. Archived
  from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Mackrell, Alice (2005). Art and Fashion: the Impact of Art on Fashion and Fashion on Art. London:
  ISBN 978-0-7134-8873-9. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Murdoch, Lydia (2013). Daily Life of Victorian Women. Santa Barbara, California:
  ISBN 978-0-313-38499-8. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
• Pittock, Murray (2016). Culloden: Great Battles. Oxford:
  ISBN 978-0-19-164069-8
  .
• ISBN 978-0-300-26896-6. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Robertson, Fiona (2017). "Gothic Scott". In Davison, Carol Margaret; Germanà, Monica (eds.). Scottish Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh:
  ISBN 978-1-4744-0820-2. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Royle, Trevor (2017). Culloden. London:
  ISBN 978-0-349-13865-7
  .
• Seidl, Monika (2009). "British Fashion and Romanticism Today: Where the Present Dreams the Past Future". In Eckstein, Lars (ed.). Romanticism Today: Selected Papers from the Tübingen Conference of the German Society for English Romanticism. Trier, Germany: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier.
  OCLC 427321505. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2014). Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature. New York City:
  ISBN 978-1-4381-0911-4. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Stępień, Justyna (2020). "'Savage Beauties'. Alexander McQueen's performance of posthuman bodies". In Ferrero-Regis, Tiziana; Lindquist, Marissa (eds.). Staging Fashion: The Fashion Show and Its Spaces. London:
  ISBN 978-1-350-10184-5. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• OCLC 951153602
  .
• ISBN 978-1-68335-498-7. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Watt, Judith (2012). Alexander McQueen: The Life and the Legacy. New York City:
  OCLC 892706946
  .
• OCLC 891618596
  .
  • Faiers, Jonathan. "Nature Boy". In Wilcox (2015), pp. 123–137.
  • Skogh, Lisa. "Museum of the Mind". In Wilcox (2015), pp. 178–188.
  • Spooner, Catherine. "A Gothic Mind". In Wilcox (2015), pp. 141–158.
  • Wood, Ghislaine. "Clan MacQueen". In Wilcox (2015), pp. 51–56.
• ISBN 978-1-4767-7674-3
  .
• Yeo, Su-Anne (2020). "Summoning the Ghosts of Early Cinema and Victorian Entertainment: Kate Moss and Savage Beauty at the Victoria and Albert Museum". In Menotti, Gabriel; Crisp, Virginia (eds.). Practices of Projection: Histories and Technologies. Oxford:
  ISBN 978-0-19-093411-8. Archived
  from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
• Young, Caroline; Martin, Ann (2017). Tartan + Tweed. London:
  OCLC 947020251
  .

Journals

• Atherton, Cassandra (2012). "The Haunting: Poetry and Fashion in the Creative Writing Workshop". Writing on the Edge. 23 (1): 47–53.
  JSTOR 43157472
  .
• S2CID 57559845
  .
• Elenowitz-Hess, Caroline (16 April 2022). "Reckoning with Highland Rape: Sexuality, Violence, and Power on the Runway".
  S2CID 229432510
  .
• McCaffrey, Robert (24 September 2020). "Alexander McQueen: The Sublime and Melancholy".
  The Fashion Studies Journal. Archived
  from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
• Tegan, Mary Beth (1 October 2021). "'The Contagion of Her Wretchedness': Rousing Interest in the Highland Widows of Scott and McQueen". Essays in Romanticism. 28 (2): 95.
  S2CID 239506478
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Widows of Culloden.

• "Women's Fall / Winter 06: "The Widows of Culloden"".
  Alexander McQueen. Archived from the original
  on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
• Alexander McQueen | Women's Autumn/Winter 2006 | Runway Show on
  YouTube
• Metropolitan Museum of Art: Widows of Culloden finale on Vimeo
• Production stills and concept art from designer Joseph Bennett