When staggering down the runway wearing tartan over torn lace
When thin leather sheaths ripped across the chest
When hooded silk robes fallen open
When bodies a ravaged country
When inner thighs smudged with red
When only gored grey lace covers the body
When breasts exposed from an unbloused jacket
When stocks edged with a Stuart ruff enclose the neck
When obsolete colors fulwe, maidenhair, sad, vernal, watchet
When sleeveless torn satin & cutaway shorts
When strewn with cigarette butts
When a buried history of England & Scotland
When a man yelling, Have I offended you then?
When the body becomes everything it is given
After Alexander McQueen’s collection Highland Rape, autumn/winter 1995–96.
Originally published in TINGE.