They said/We said: We’re holding back tears as the Met Costume Institute’s Alexander McQueen exhibit closes (the most successful ever!)

Last night marked the close of “Savage Beauty,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s four-month ode to Alexander McQueen. Cue the savage, savage tears.

Since it’s opening on May 4, the exhibit brought in an astounding 650,000+ visitors, making it the eighth biggest show in the Met’s 141-year history and their most successful costume specific exhibit ever. In the last few weeks it was open, crazed crowds attempting to get a last peek made headlines. Fights broke out in the sometimes three-hour lineup. The museum retracted the privilege of members to skip the line. There was even an iPhone app made aptly named the McQueen Line Trek: The Taming of the Queue. All’s fair in fashion and war?

If you missed the exhibit and have a major case of regret, the museum at FIT in New York will be showcasing some of McQueen’s pieces at their Daphne Guinness exhibit opening September 16. And if New York is too far of a trek, you can always pick up the Met’s book on the exhibition. But you better hurry—they’ve already sold more than 100,000 copies, and we wouldn’t want to stand in that line at the bookstore.

WHAT THEY SAID…

Anna Wintour: “We knew it was going to do well, but we didn’t know how well,” she said. “One of the mailroom guys told me yesterday how much he enjoyed the show. It just shows you how fashion now reaches so many different people.” [NY Times]

Derek Blasberg: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, most popular fashion exhibit in Met history. I’m here paying one last tribute to the genius.” [Twitter]

Joe Zee: “It was so emotional to see all those McQueen clothes. I was at all those shows but seeing them again here took on a whole new meaning… The Shalom spray paint dress, the Kate Moss hologram, the chess game, the Birds—like a flashback to my own career. Lee was such a talent.” [Twitter]

Vogue UK: “From the dramatic, thrilling music to the nuanced lighting design and the murky, twisted sets, the entire exhibit successfully maintains a certain demented, post-apocalyptic atmosphere where the possibility of danger and beauty are one in the same.” [Vogue UK]

WHAT WE SAID…

Randi Bergman, online editor: Seeing this exhibit was so emotionally and visually spellbinding, and it’s nice to know that his kind of genius can still translate for the masses. It’s also very cool that this year, through the exhibit and Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, McQueen is now a household name for many who wouldn’t have been aware of him otherwise.

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