Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

If you adore art and lucky enough to be in the City (by that I mean New York City) sometimes between May 4 and July 31, 2011, I suggest you include the Met in your list of places to go. Here's why. I intentionally used art instead of fashion, because McQueen's work surpasses fashion; it really is a work of art. I won't go into details on what the exhibit is about, because the website does a much better job at it. In short, the exhibit has loads of dresses designed my Lee Alexander himself, and you have to be mad to not go have a look because to quote Barney Stinson, it's Legen-wait for it-dary.

NY Times Fashion&Style ran an article about this exhibit too, and there was this passage that I thought was not the accurate description of McQueen's work.

There are streaks of sadomasochism and misogyny in Mr. McQueen’s work. The concept of using as a model a woman with prosthetic legs or of having a robot squirt paint viciously over a dress still seem discomforting. And Sarah Burton adds a further menacing note when she explains that a robotic Perspex armor-like shell worn by a model in a Givenchy collection designed by Mr. McQueen could have electrocuted the person wearing it.

I have seen most, if not all, of McQueen's work, but I seriously have no idea which collection or dress this passage is referring to as being sadomasochistic and misogynistic. I suppose demanding someone to wear Armadillo heels to walk around the city can be a bit sadomasochistic, but who does that? Not even Lady Gaga walks around the city in that shoes, because if she did that, we would know.

Honestly, this ensemble screams nothing but "I'm gorgeous." To top it, what is wrong with using a model with prosthetic legs? I really have to disagree with the idea that not looking like just another emaciated model is discomforting. I first fell in love with McQueen's work because of its originality and the underlying concept that beauty lives in all shapes and forms. I love that Lee Alexander had women with prosthetic legs model his collection. People don't go on prosthetic legs by choice. You don't choose to be born without a leg or two, be sick, or be injured. I love how Lee Alexander let the world know that these women are not "disabled;" instead, they are very able and beautiful.

I did some reading, and as it turns out, Lee Alexander refused to invite Victoria Beckham (who went as Posh Spice then) to the 1999 collection, because he thought Posh Spice's celeb-status would overshadow the appearance of a model with prosthetic legs. Aimee Mullins, the Paralympic athlete, modeled the hand-carved cherrywood prosthetics designed by Lee Alexander. Seriously, how is this sadomasochistic or misogynistic? I think it's quite the opposite.

As for squirting paints, it's all in good fun, right? The almost-electrocution incident could have been easily avoided if any of those artists had an idea to ask an engineer for a consult. I have no idea exactly what that almost-electrocution dress looks like, but all it really takes is good insulation. Anyway, that's enough of me writing; here are some more of the looks that will be showcased at the exhibit. Enjoy!

All images are taken from here.

So beautiful, don't you think?

xoxo-N

PS: According to British Vogue, this exhibit is the Met's Costume Institute's most popular exhibit ever. Is it just me who keeps thinking, what is Lee Alexander himself was still alive to witness all these?

Makeup is for Myself, Leave the World for Someone Else

Sorry for the lack of posts these days; the past couple of weeks in my real life has just been insanely crazy. Actually, it still is, but I really need some breather.

I was reading through the April issue of Cosmo, and I totally loved the article by Olivia Wilde. I'm probably a bit biased because I like her, but after reading the article, I decided that I like her even more because I can totally relate. Olivia wrote about how this 75-year-old lady commented on the literal deadliness of the 3-inch Sergio Rossi ankle booties she was wearing on that particular day. She then reflected on why women would wear such painful shoes (simple: because they are so. damn. pretty.) and concluded that:

"I was wearing them for me. They were my confidence trigger as I left the house and headed out into the world, and if that's what it takes to remind myself to put the sass back in my strut and be the best version of me, then so be it."

As a self-proclaimed fashionista myself, you have no idea how often I get commented on my beauty routines, especially since I'm sort of in a field where I'm not really expected to look like I just came back from a Vogue photo shoot. Fine, I exaggerated by about 100 times there, but you get the idea. I would wear heels and occasionally fall down (thank you, sidewalk craters) and freak the crap out my friends. After my friend commented on how zombie-ish I look, I started wearing makeup to exams, where the only thing I will be facing is a freakin paper or computer screen.

Call it vanity, but I really don't care if I fell flat on my face wearing a pair of beautiful heels, and I don't care that I just put on a full makeup for a piece of paper. I would feel much worse if I fell flat on my face wearing a blah shoes, of if I saw myself in the mirror after the said exam and I look like crap. Why? Because I know that the person staring back from the mirror is not the best version of myself. I feel like often, us women get it into our head that we dress up for someone else. I have to disagree with that. I make my best effort to look awesome, because that's the best version of me. I dress up for myself.

I strongly believe in that if you want to be loved, you must first love yourself. See, I am the one person who's known "me" the longest, so if I don't love myself, who would? It's only natural that I would want this amazing person called myself to look the very best at most times, right? I say most times because after all, wearing that killer shoes all the time can be rather tiring. It's all about positive thinking.

Whenever I fall down because my heel got caught in the sidewalk crater, I know I at least am the best dressed person to fall flat. I just brush off the dust, get up, and keep on walking (with a possible bruise). Whenever I'm so sleep deprived, I know I at least am the best looking sleep-deprived zombie out there. I'll just get that beauty sleep later. We all need some kind of confidence boost to kick off the positive mindset to get through the day, and looking the best version of myself always does the trick. Of course, I try not to forget accessorizing with this thing called "smile," which works on every outfit.

Although, I have to say that there are times when looking the best version of myself doesn't seem to cut it because life likes to throw tons of lemons at times. When all efforts to stay positive fails, I turn to my best friend, who somehow knows how to put me back on my feet.

xx-N

PS: I took the title of this post from the song called "Perfect Day" by Hoku. The song was used in one of the most positive happy movie ever made.

Interview for Seven Billion

Little back story: So my awesome wonderful friend from high school also blogs, and she asked if she could interview me for her blog post. Actually, her blog is one of the reason I decided to start my own, so of course I said yes. Here's the original link to the interview. I hope you guys enjoy!

xx-N

1. Where did you grow up?
Japan & United States. Yes, in World Cup Soccer, I do support both Team Japan and Team USA.  Did you know that both teams have the same team color? ...ok different shades of blue, but it's still blue!

2. Name a role model (can be male or female, famous or not....)
Coco Chanel. I love and respect how she lived. When women were still trapped in the notion of "get married and have kids; you don't need to work, leave that to your hubby" and corsets, she single-handedly tore down both of them. She started from a small hat boutique and went on to build the first designer label made for women, made by women. I love her because she never settled for something mediocre; instead, she always worked to achieve the best. Of course, she was the first designer to design black dresses, marine style, shoulder bags, and rhinestones (before, everyone wore real jewelry...gasp). She also taught me that it's rather a wonderful thing to never fit in through this quote:


"In order to be irreplacable, you must always be different" -Coco Chanel


3. What first drew you to science?
Hmm...I really can't remember :D It's something I was (and am) always interested in.

4. How (if) has your gender effected your academic choices (i.e. major)?
I really don't think my gender had anything to do with my choosing Aerospace Engineering. Once a space-nerd, always a space-nerd. :p

5. Do you think your gender plays a role in how people in your academic field view you?
Let's just say that if I'm getting some letter from someone I never met and all they got is my name, there's an 100% chance that the said letter has a salutation of "Mr." haha. No offense taken on my part, though. Pretty used to it. :)


Other than that, I'm never conscious of my gender in my field.  

6. Do you think women have certain advantages when it comes to science, or is research truly gender-neutral?
There were small incidents where I was more experienced with using certain equipments, such as metal file and heat gun, even though I had never used them before. The only reason is that metal file and heat guns are oversized and overpowered versions of nail file and blow dryer, respectively. I guess in general, men don't really need to use those two on a daily basis, so that could be an advantage. In a more broader perspective, I would like to think that scientific researches are gender-neutral. As much as I disagree with the notion of men having advantages over women in academia, I also disagree with the contrary, that women have advantages over men in academia. I really think everyone should be equally judged for their intellectual abilities. 

7. If you could do any kind of job you want, what would it be? Why?
I want to live at 221B Baker Street and solve all those cool cases with Sherlock Holmes. I love solving mysteries and Sherlock is the best. Being Indiana Jones' sidekick may be cool as well, but something tells me that the survival rate is kinda sorta low if you're just a sidekick. You know, with mummies and rocks and Nazis and other random bad guy of the day on our tail...


Hey, you said any job....right? :p


In real life, I'm studying and working to get one. ;)