To say that I haven’t been paying much attention to Fashion Week and the Spring 2011 collections would be more than an understatement. My focus has been on trying to get a few choice pieces from the Fall 2010 collections into my closet and wishing for some true Fall weather in which to wear them, not what anyone might be wearing come Spring. However, when reports started to spread across the interwebs about Sarah Burton’s brilliant show for Alexander McQueen, I couldn’t help but pause, and gasp, and begin to dream.

Style.com described the overall vibe very well:

Where [McQueen's] narratives were often dark, discomfiting things, [Burton] opted for a nurturing atmosphere: a pagan, Earth-Mother-ly spirit. The woman in her show began as a plain white canvas and was steadily reclaimed by nature: wrapped in embroidered fronds, in leaves of black leather, in a raffia-trimmed brocade, in the wings of monarch butterflies or an enveloping mass of feathers. The craftsmanship was startling—that monarch butterfly dress, for instance, or a gown with a breastplate of gilded cornstalks and skirt of pheasant feathers, or another gown of pleated organza that looked like an unfolding sea anemone.

A few of my favorite quotes from The Moment’s Scorecard Alexander McQueen:

“Sarah Burton’s first women’s show for Alexander McQueen didn’t have the tortured genius of the namesake designer who committed suicide in February. But the clothes may have been better for it.” (All The Rage)

“A tour-de-force that channeled McQueen’s darkly surreal style, remodeling his signature elements into strange and beautiful confections that managed to be at the same time new and reassuringly familiar.” (Associated Press)

“Sarah Burton … revived the late designer’s challenging legacy with a brilliant first collection imbued with a pagan, bohemian spirit and featuring spectacular hand-crafted detail.” (The Daily Telegraph)

“What really struck a chord, alongside the requisite show pieces, was the softness of the collection. We were, after all, seeing McQueen through a woman’s eyes.” (ELLEuk.com)

“It’s intricate, elaborate, grandiose — McQueen would be proud.” (FabSugar)

“In an extraordinarily beautiful show, Burton succeeded in both being faithful to the late designer’s distinctive design ethos while taking the label into a new era.” (The Guardian)

“Faced with carrying on with what is arguably the most celebrated show of Paris Fashion Week, she came through with splendor (and excellent tailoring).” (Heard on the Runway)

“Inspired, this time, by the anatomy of the woman who chooses to wear it and by the flora and fauna of the natural world, it was both technically and artistically perfect.” (The Independent)

When I was in London several months ago and found my way into the Alexander McQueen boutique, I floated dreamily through the racks of beautiful things cursing the exchange rate and my pitiful bank balance. Not even a tank dress made its way home in my suitcase. With this new collection as inspiration, perhaps it’s time to start saving my pence so when Spring comes around again I can float home “in the wings of monarch butterflies or an enveloping mass of feathers.”