I didn't post about it at the time, but I was very saddened by Alexander McQueen's suicide last year.  Though I spend most of my time in jeans and Adidas, I love extravagant fashion. To me, McQueen was an artist; his clothing was dramatic and structured, romantic, dark and sometimes aggressive. Often breathtaking.
Lately, I've been trying to think of ways to challenge myself with my dolls because for a while I felt I was in a bit of rut.  I want to experiment with the structure of the dolls themselves (I have a few new ideas for joints), but I also want to do more interesting things with clothing.  So, I've started my next group of dolls with the incredible architecture of McQueen's clothing in mind.  It seems almost too bold to say so, but I'll get bored if I don't keep trying new things.

If you're anywhere near NYC, there's a McQueen retrospective at the Met that looks amazing. Savage Beauty is on until August 7th and it emphasizes both his exceptional designs and his skill as a craftsman of bespoke clothing.  If, like me, you can't there, the site for the exhibit has great photos and  video (both of the exhibit itself and footage of some of McQueen's runway shows). 

The Alexander McQueen website also has video of all his runway shows, which were as dramatic as the clothing itself.  'The Girl Who Lived in a Tree' (Fall/ Winter 2008) is a personal favourite, and you can find it under the runway archives. I don't know yet which dresses I'll look to for inspiration, but I'm so excited to try!

 p.s. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and emailed with kind words about the Black Swan dolls - they have all been adopted and are off to their new homes in Toronto,the UK and Australia!