The "Highland Rape" Collection from the late Alexander McQueen

Just came across this quote while reading a Daily Mail article about the (extremely sad) death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen:

So there was the 1995 show entitled 'Highland Rape' which featured torn bodices hanging from the models' skirts and saw him accused of misogyny - something he hotly denied, insisting he'd simply been making a point about how 18th century Scotland had been over-romanticised. 

Intrigued, I did a little research and came across this on Scotsman.com:

His first taste of international notoriety came in the autumn of 1995, when he called his catwalk show "Highland Rape". He explained that the "rape" was of Scotland by the English; a subject in which he had "a special interest, as my family is of Scottish descent". The collection featured dishevelled and battered-looking models in torn clothing. McQueen transformed a loft-like industrial space into a brooding battleground of mayhem to show the clothes. 

He maintained that it symbolised the Battle of Culloden in which his ancestors were defeated and then slaughtered by British troops under the Duke of Cumberland. However, on another occasion he claimed he'd simply been making a point about how 18th-century Scotland had been over-romanticised.

 I am so glad I found this info... I had no idea about this collection or what it represented.

Rest in Peace, Mr. McQueen.

*Thanks to Scott from the forums at thefashionspot.com for the photo. 

Alternate Outlander Discussion

If you want to discuss anything in A Breath of Snow and Ashes or An Echo in the Bone (or ANY of the Outlander books) go on over to the Outlander Book Club - a FANTASTIC SITE where they have discussions about ALL of the books - listed BY book!

LIVID, PARTY OF 1

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished chapter 14 in A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

WTF????

I have not been THIS PISSED since the incident with the PROSTITUTES in France!!! What is this BULLSHIT about Jamie SLEEPING WITH TWO NAKED INDIAN WOMEN?!?!?

I couldn't give a RAT'S ASS that he didn't have sex with them. He let TWO NAKED INDIAN WOMEN SLEEP IN HIS BED!!!!!!!  Just because it's RAINING?!? OH I don't THINK SO, BOYFRIEND. Get their asses ON THE FLOOR where they BELONG!!!

Please do not even ATTEMPT to tell me "Oh he couldn't pass up their hospitality". Please. Just don't even go there.

Where is Mr. I-Can't-So-Much-as-Sleep-on-the-Floor-of-a-Woman-I'm-Not-Married-to?????
Where is Mr. Honor and Ethics????
Where is JOE CATHOLICISM???????

Clearly he has LEFT THE MOTHERFRIGGIN BUILDING!!!!!

MMMMMMMMMMPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

9 Lives Indeed

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you've finished Chapter 13 in A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

OK so Claire is obsessing over bringing Lizzie's fever down and getting rid of Bobby's worms. BLECH. That story is so gross - and yet so fascinating. I canna WAIT to see what she does to rid Bobby of his parasites. I love all this gross Claire stuff!

Poor Jamie. My god, he is tormented by his past right now.  (The gross palm reader totally reminds me of that seer in Robin Hood with Kevin Costner. WHAT a great character she would be on screen.)  And now he's totally obsessed with having 9 lives... and how many of them he's actually plowed through. I feel like he and Claire are forgetting one - but so am I, apparently, because I canna think of it right now. Then again - I'd probably consider him having been close to death a number of times whereas he'd just "Mmmmmppphhhh!" about those situations and dismiss me with his hand.

And Roger taking Jemmy to Cross Creek? Sounds to me like a verra...VERRA bad idea. So bad I canna even stop to THINK about it. And what's with Bree being all "yeah whatEV - take him - I can't wait to play with my white phosphorus."

And here's a question. How does Ian just waltz on to Cherokee lands with the hair of a settler... but Mohawk dots on his face? How is THAT going to go down? (Rhetorical - please do not answer as I havena gotten there yet!) I canna imagine too great. Jamie best bring an extra keg of whiskey along with him.

And speaking of Ian... I am chomping at the bit to find out what happened to him with the Mohawk. And where his wife and baby are. It seems so obvious that they're dead... but something tells me that is for a reason. I have this sneaking suspicion - no, downgrade that to a possible notion - that Emily and their baby might just waltz on to Fraser's Ridge in the coming months and be all "What up, Dawg?" Can you imagine? oooooh.... Lizzie would NOT be happy. Then again - how do I know WHAT Lizzie would be when she's always up shivering in her room... or off making beer with Mrs. Bug!  I am going to start a "Let's Get to Know Lizzie!" campaign pretty soon... because she's the most fascinating non-character I've ever seen!!!

Do You Live in Outlanderland?

So tonight I was watching the movie, "Annie" with my family. And when they got to the part where Annie first goes to Daddy Warbucks' house and sees how beautiful it is, I started thinking "That poor thing - after 2 weeks she's going to have to go back to the orphanage! That will be so hard for her!"

And do you know what my very next thought was?

"That's just like when Jamie had to go back to regular prison life every Sunday after having dinner with John Grey. He was miserable!"

It was like nothing. My brain just switched from one thought to the next like clockwork! And if THAT wasn't bad enough, I'm in full-on Outlanderland dream mode as well.

I have to assume it's due to keeping a daily blog... that some nights I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and I'll know I've been dreaming about Outlander. I woke up last night and realized I had been dreaming about squirrel stew. SQUIRREL STEW!! And I remembered that Jamie kept using the term "wee mongrel".

Do you ever dream about Outlander?

Things I'm Pondering...

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished chapter 9 in A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

Am I the only one waiting for the "Go ahead... I dare ya" moment when Bree or Roger or someone asks Stephen Bonnet to roll his tongue?

The Lizzie thing is getting verra interesting. I've never seen a lesser character surrounded by more intrigue. Now I know - and so do you - that she's going to dump Manfred at some point. She has to. Either that or she'll marry him and be miserable. But I dinna see that happening. I thought she and Ian were going to get close again when he showed up... until Bobby Higgins showed up, that is. Now - I might be making things up in my brain - tis something that's happened before, lassies. But I felt like the two of them were verra concerned about each other when they had matching fainting spells within 5 minutes of each other. It was weird; it almost seemed like they knew each other already. Again - maybe I made that up in my head. ANOTHER thing I keep wondering is what those Beardsleys are going to do on Lizzie's behalf. Jo is none too happy she's marrying Manfred - that is fo sho. So I wait - and I wonder. Isn't it exhilarating?!

ALSO - holy god - now that I know Jamie would have leveled John Grey had he taken him up on his offer for sex... oh my gosh. I am SO RELIEVED!!! That was something that stuck in my craw from the second John told Claire. As I've mentioned in the past - I've no issue with the homosexual aspect of it... I have an issue with Jamie Fraser even GOING THERE after what happened between Jack Randall and himself. So to hear him say it was a bluff made my ever-loving DAY. Seriously.

"No Spoilers" Reminder

Each book review entry states what chapter I'm on - and in which book. Please remember not to post any spoilers in the comments section. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished Chapter 7 in A Breath of Snow and Ashes. (Frankly I may be on chapter 6; I'm not sure. Och! This damn Kindle!)

So I've started Book 6. That's code for A Breath of Snow and Ashes. (I'm so stealth, am I not?) And so far - SO good. I was a little dismayed/freaked out at first when Ian was hurt in the woods. I was also half-expecting chapter 1 to be a first person narrative from someone other than Claire, since Tracey had such a reaction to the writing style when we made our last video. But, alas, it was written in third person, from Ian's point of view. Which is verra cool, Sassenachs. Anything remotely having to do with Ian is totally exciting to the lassies of My Outlander Purgatory these days.

(Have I ever mentioned that my son's name is Ian? Just thought I'd throw it out there.  Let's face it... anything in your life that relates even slightly to Outlander is pretty damn cool, no?)

You know - I usually spend half the book pondering and theorizing the meaning(s?) of the book's title - but this one is kindof jumps out at you by chapter 2. Verra verra sad, no? And I'm wondering if they're right about the same "band of brigands" (Jo and Kezzie's word) being the ones who hurt Ian.

Soooo.... MacDonald is at the big house, absolutely DISGUSTING Claire with his tales of calling all prostitutes Polly (ugh what a PIG) and I want them to get their butts to Edenton and find that poor girl and adopt her. And he's running all sorts of propositions by Jamie - to head up a Committee of Safety... and to "take in" a large group of Gaelic-speaking Highlanders - who have come in from Scotland in droves - and help them set up homesteads on the Ridge. Because, let's face it, Jamie is all-giving as well as he is all-knowing, right? All are welcome... all welcome.

BUT - Roger Mac and Bree are on their way to the McGillivrays' to fetch Jemmy who was brought there while they were away (at the burnt-out Dutch house) by Lizzie and her father. They could have waited until morning, but they are good parents and just plain miss their son. Which is very sweet in my humble opinion. And while walking...Bree is talking about different ways to design indoor plumbing, which I've been saying they should do since Day 1. So this is one "invention" I can totally get behind with Bree. It's a no-brainer (not in terms of design but in terms of necessity.)

Lastly - I have to mention that I find it odd that these poor Beardsley kids (I don't even like using that name; Jamie should just adopt them and make them Fraser's) are still kindof vagabonds - even though they're living at the Ridge. I mean - do we know where they're living? Whose house? Do they live at the big house? I'm confused. All I know is they seem to roam around in the woods quite a bit. And when I got to the following line I was appalled: "Come along to the house with us, aye.... I'm sure Frau Ute would give ye a bed by the fire."  These poor kids!  I know, I know - it's the 18th century. But come on! These kids need some parenting! If Jamie's not going to step up to the plate and claim them, someone else should! They're way too young to be allowed to roam around in the dark woods at night.

OK that's all... off to read. More later, Sassenachs. More later....

I Have Finished The Fiery Cross

SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have read "The Fiery Cross".

So I was telling my husband the story of The Fiery Cross today; he is now completely up-to-date on the Outlander series - as far as I've read, that is.  And when I got to the point about Ian staying for good, I said "and THAT is why I had my head in my hands the other day in the car" and he rolled his eyes something FIERCE. As if to say "THESE PEOPLE AREN'T REAL!" exactly like my bro-in-law, Tracey's hub John says quite often. It was quite comical.

So the book has ended... and all-in-all I am more than happy with the ending. OK let's be honest - with Ian showing up at the end, how could I NOT be???

Loved the fact that Ian brought the book with him and they've all been pouring over it like it's The Outlandish Companion at one of my Outlander meetings. ;) Seriously though - I keep waiting for Bree to translate it or something. Or for Claire to ask "Bree - what do you think he meant by that?" Or for Ian to say "Bree, do you think I did the right thing in leaving?" OK I'm being a wiseguy. And it's not like I even have the slightest CLUE why Ian left. I canna WAIT to find out in A Breath of Snow and Ashes, which I started last night. Chapter 5, y'all. I'll definitely be blogging tomorrow.

LOVE LOVE LOVED the cutie pie scene with Jemmy's privates and how Jamie and Roger were going to take him outside to show him theirs so he knows what they are. That is now one of my favorite scenes in the series. Must go read it again. And when Roger asked him if he could roll his tongue? My god I held my breath! You KNOW that child is Roger's. You just KNOW he is. And who really cares, right? It's so obvious Roger loves him so much. I just love that little family. Even Bree.

The Outlander Tour - Scottish Life

You must read this article from Scottish Life Magazine about 4 friends who traveled to Scotland to take the Outlander tour...