Met Gala madness: the extra event where fashion loses its head
Stuck for big event outfit inspiration? Look no further than the Met Gala, where nothing wardrobe fails are celebrated, and nothing succeeds like fashion excess.
Opinion
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Need inspo for your next party outfit? Look no further; it’s time for the annual night of fashion excess, otherwise known as the Met Gala.
Taking place in New York on Monday, the Met Gala, helmed by Vogue’s Anna Wintour, has become the biggest night on the fashion calendar, eclipsing the Oscars. Livestreamed, it’s now the favourite event for Gen Z, who devour the OTT looks of the world’s biggest stars.
Last year’s videos were watched 1.5 billion times, on Vogue platforms.
This year, the dress code is The Garden of Time, around the Met’s new exhibition, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.
Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and rapper Bad Bunny, are co-chairs.
What that actually means is anyone’s guess, as while the rest of us get stumped by “smart/casual”, or “must wear shoes”, this complicated dress code at least ensures we will get to see which celebs ace it and which misfire.
The latter is much more entertaining. Last year the theme was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, which saw Jared Leto come as the designer’s cat, Choupette. Obviously.
And in 2018, it was Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, so Rihanna rocked up as the Pope.
Yes, it’s excessive, in a cost-of-living crisis, but it’s also a moment of pure escapism.
This is not a night to wear your jeans, it’s the time to go complete Lady Gaga and turn up in a giant pink dress, executing a red-carpet reveal so laborious, the exasperated commentator declared, “I never thought I’d say this, but please, Gaga, get off the carpet.”
These are the outfits which will find fashion infamy, from the bat-poop crazy combos to the complete sartorial fails.
Who could forget Kim Kardashian’s 2021 all-black Balenciaga combo of dress, stocking-boots, full-face mask and cape, which meant she doubled as a Dementor from Harry Potter. She must have also seriously struggled to eat her dinner.
It’s always better to show a little more of yourself than that at any red-carpet event, but perhaps not as much as Cara Delevingne did, the following year, when she teamed her red Dior trouser suit with gold spray-painted boobs. Can’t see that one working at the RSL meat tray raffle.
What might work, however, is Rihanna’s giant yellow Guo Pei dress from 2015, subsequently dubbed “the omelette” and Katy Perry’s cheeseburger costume from 2019.
Getting the dress code right for the party of the year is enough to make anyone lose their mind and Jared Leto – yes, him again – did just that, in 2019, when he turned up in a red Gucci robe, carrying his own head.
I have to hand it to him, it’s an unusual accessory, but not as weird as the hanks of his own hair, Jaden Smith clutched, in 2017. May I suggest bringing a bag, next time, instead.
Finally, if you are wondering what on earth it’s all for – it raises both a gazillion dollars for the Costume Institute at the Met and eyebrows all over the world. But most of all, it’s fashion, sweetie, which is, and always will be, absolutely fabulous.
— Watch the Met Gala at Vogue.com
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