What Alexander McQueen Can Teach You About Fashion (Icons with Attitude)

I was offered this book on Netgalley but it was archived before I could read it, so I bought my own copy and read it today. It is beautifully presented as a physical book. The black and white photograph of McQueen on the cover contrasts with the orange spine and text and the whole thing is graphically well thought out. The sections were interestingly presented and the photographs were great. There were a couple of things that let the book down for me. The first was that the text has been edited really poorly. There are quite a few typos and in one place, lines of text have been repeated. I would accept this in a review copy as you usually receive an uncorrected proof, but this is a published book I paid money for and it's such a shame, given the high quality of the rest of the book. It's also clear that the author is passionate about her subject and this lacklustre editing really lets it down. The second thing is that there are two entire sections dedicated to the iconic McQueen scarf. As I say, it is iconic, so I would definitely expect it to feature, but twice, with virtually identical wording in a book this short and a career as wide and varied as McQueen's seemed a bit of an overkill when the space could have been taken up with something else. I did very much enjoy it and as an introduction to McQueen and his work, it is a great resource.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.Firstly, may I state this is not a “how to” book. It doesn’t contain tips from the late great Alexander McQueen on how to make or wear high fashion. Instead it is a story of his life and his creations, and how they mixed to make one tortured, haunted soul.I’ll admit I still remember where I was when I heard McQueen had taken his own life. It was February 2010 and I was 16 years old. I was at school for parents evening waiting to see my philosophy tutor. We were early so my late father was browsing the news on his phone when he told me the news. Neither him nor my mother knew who he was, but I did, and I knew in that moment what a hole would from then on be missing from the fashion world. I visited his exhibition at the V&A in 2015 which was the hauntingly beautiful experience I would have quite happily kept paying so I could stay in there.I design my own clothes in my spare time - they haven’t gone any further than my sketchbooks - and am fascinated by fashion, even if I do spend most of my time in sweatpants. The main think I took from this is that McQueen showed us fashion isn’t always about the physical garment. It can be - the garment, the model, the material, the form, the fit - but it’s also about the setting, the meaning, the connotations, and most importantly, how it makes us feel.There must have been thousands of images for Honigman to choose from and the ones chosen for this are just perfect for depicting McQueen’s inner turmoil. Ideally I would have loved a photo for each garment mentioned but you’d need a separate volume to fit them all in.It’s not a particularly long book, perfect to read in one sitting if you’re lucky enough to have that spare time. It is informative and informative and interesting and important without being too heavy to read. I may have to buy a physical copy of it to add to my bookshelf.As McQueen once said, “The world needs fantasy” - ain’t that the truth,