Crinolines and corsets are back....Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2013

In Sarah Burton's exploration of the feminine silhouette for Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2013, the body has been transformed by the extraneous supra-structures of the crinoline and corset. Playing with transparency and concealment, Burton has carved out a wasp-waisted, hyper-feminine look, reminiscent of the crinoline craze in the mid-19th century and Dior's New Look in the mid-20th century.

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2013

The designer said: “The collection is a study of femininity. We looked at erotica. Vargas girls, cages, corsets and crinolines and the idealisation of the female form. Nothing is set in a particular period. It’s about sensuality and skin but not nudity. We also wanted to express lightness, for the clothes almost to hover over the women who wear them.”

Yohji Yamamoto and the Crinoline

Yohji Yamamoto Fall/winter 2011

Crinolines seem to resurface periodically in contemporary fashion. Their exaggerated proportions and sculptural properties take on a decidedly modern twist in Yohji Yamamoto's Fall/Winter 2011 collection. And the apocalyptic hairdos almost seem to foretell the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Yohji Yamamoto Fall/Winter 2011

Yohji Yamamoto, Fall/winter 2011

Yohji Yamamoto Fall/winter 2011

These women are not languishing Victorian wallflowers. Instead the effect is strikingly powerful and modern. Seeing this riff on crinolines makes me want to wear one. I wish I could hop across the pond to see the retrospective of Yohji Yamamoto's work which opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on March 12, 2011. 

To see more examples of crinolines in contemporary fashion, see this earlier post here.