The Met Gala is one of the biggest events of the year for Hollywood, even though it is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Met Gala happens every year on the first Monday in May and it is a fundraising event for the museum. Designers pay about $200,000-$300,000 for a table and then invite celebrities and dress them in their brand. But, of course, the queen of Vogue, Anna Wintour, is rumored to have final say over the guest list and their proposed red carpet outfits. Each year the Gala has a theme/dress code for the celebrities and designers to follow. But, every year many just show up in whatever they want with no regard to being on theme. Some past themes were Camp, Heavenly Bodies, America: A Lexicon of Fashion, and Gilded Glamour. I honestly loved a lot of the looks from the carpet this year, but I hated them in the context.
This year’s theme, Gilded Glamour, seemed to confuse a lot of the people who walked the carpet. Gilded Glamour refers to the Gilded Age, which was a time of great wealth for the major players in New York City from about 1870 to 1900. After the Civil War, the rich got a whole lot richer and began to flaunt their wealth. They began to dress more lavishly and with more luxurious details. Trends at the time were bustles, corsetry, jewel tones, silk, satin, velvet, ruffles, fringe, and coat tails. For the Met Gala, you don’t have to show up in an actual dress from the late 1800s to be on theme. It’s all about referencing a style or specific person while also modernizing the look. Which is where a lot of people go wrong. They either have no reference for their look or have gone too modern, or both. Unfortunately a lot of people just heard the Glamour part of Gilded Glamour and came dressed in the totally wrong time period. I saw way too many people referencing the 1920s trends, about 20 years too late.
Eiza Gonzalez, who wore a beautiful white gown with feather detailing on the bottom and a shawl with feather details by Michael Kors, seemed to be referencing the 1920s fashion trends instead of the Gilded Age. This is something I feel like I will be saying often in this article; I loved the dress, but not for the Met Gala and not for this theme. Hailey Bieber wore a similar dress to Gonzalez by Yves Saint Laurent. She was wearing a pretty plain dress made of white silk, which I am assuming is the reference to the Gilded Age as it was a popular fabric in this time period, with a white, long shawl that created a train behind her and that was bordered with feathers. It looks strikingly similar to Eiza’s dress and it once again is too boring for the Met Gala (which is all about opulence) and it feels like it is referencing the Roaring 20s and not the 1870s. Maude Apatow was wearing a dress by Miu Miu, who I love, that seemed to be channeling a flapper. Once again, a dress that seemed to be referencing the 1920s, even down to the jewelry and hairstyling. Did these people get different invites that said the theme was the 20s? Why did so many people dress in outfits referencing the wrong era? Celebs weren’t just coming dressed in 1920s attire, Kim Kardashion, Pete Davidson and Kris Jenner all seemed to be wearing outfits inspired by the 1960s. I was really disappointed by Kim and her dress for many reasons. The first reason being what she did to fit into the dress. She shared that it took weeks of intense workouts and unhealthy dieting for her to be able to fit in the dress as it is considered a historical artifact that can not be altered. I feel like she was promoting unhealthy tactics to maintain unhealthy body standards to young girls. The dress she wore was controversial because many were upset about her wearing a historical artifact that could hav easily been damaged. The dress was worn by Marilyn Monroe and was made to fit her exact measurements and skin tone because it was meant to look like she was wearing nothing but crystals. Unfortunately it is not Kim’s measurements or skin tone, so it doesn’t look right on her. I also was disappointed because her wearing the same exact dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to serenade JFK on his birthday at MSG was supposed to be a huge moment for pop culture and fashion. I think she should have worn it for another occasion, possibly even last years Met Gala as the theme was America: A Lexicon of Fashion, which was supposed to represent iconic moments in US Fashion history, which this dress was. Instead it felt boring and out of place for this years theme.
A lot of people felt out of place on this red carpet because they didn’t follow the theme, but others felt out of place because they were dressed for regular red carpets for things like movie premiers or the Kids Choice Awards, not for the Met Gala. Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham and Nicola Peltz-Bechkam, dressed by Valentino, were underdressed and not even on theme. I can’t find a single reference to the Gilded Age, and Nicola just wore a dress from Valentino’s most recent collection. That’s fine for any other red carpet, but I think all of the looks for the Met Gala should be custom or from the archives. Alexa Chung, who came with Christian Siriano, was wearing a stunning dress with off the shoulder sleeves and a knee-high slit. I love Christian Siriano as a designer, because he usually goes a little outside of the box. So, to see such a simple dress from him on the Met Gala stairs was disappointing, even though I would love the dress in another context. And finally, I really hate to say this… but it has to be said, Olivia Rodrigo looked like she was going to prom not a high-profile white-tie event. I love Olivia and I love Versace, which is who dressed her, and I loved this look. If I had a few thousand dollars to spend on a prom dress and this style was readily available I would have considered it for my prom this year.
Speaking of outfits I would have considered wearing, Hoyeon Jung wore an outfit that I honestly probably would wear to run errands. She wore what appears to be a denim dress with some cut out details and knee high boots. It was cute, but I am honestly so completely underwhelmed by it. Emma Stone’s dress Louis Vuitton was also completely underwhelming. Not only did it feel like it was referencing the 1920s, it looked similar to many other dresses there like Hailey Bieber. She looked like she was a bride in her “getting ready” slip dress pajamas on her wedding day. It was boring and not on theme. Next! Kylie Jenner also looked like this was her wedding day and not the Met Gala. The skirt of the dress was honestly not bad and in a different context I would have been fine with it. But everything waist up was truly horrendous. I am honestly shocked, appalled and incredibly angered. The baseball hat with the veil?! The hat was supposed to be a reference to the fact that baseball was invented and popularized during this time period, but it was just very very bad. Another dress that I really didn’t love was Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s unfortunate because it tried to make a reference to 1800s fashion, but instead of the 1870s-90s it was more 1860s. In the grand scheme of things, 10 years isn’t too far off (especially because others came in 1960s inspired garments). Her dress was inspired by Elizabeth Keckley, who was the seamstress for Mary Todd Lincoln. She was a slave who bought her way to freedom through her talent for sewing. It is an inspiring story and the representation from Sarah Jessica Parker was great, but I didn’t love the stripes and the headpiece.
Another historical reference from that time period that I appreciate came from Hillary Clinton, whose overall look was fine but she was on theme. Her dress was meant to pay homage to the women who handcrafted their own clothing during the time period. She also had hand-embroidered names of women who inspired her on the collar of her dress, to reference friendship quilts. Next up is Chloe Bailey, who I believe referenced the Golden Snitch. It’s a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she came out and said that was her reference. She wore a dress from Area’s Spring 2022 Couture collection. I think the abstract shapes on the hips were supposed to be a nod to bustles, but I honestly don’t know. And the gold was a reference to Gilded. I can see what she was trying to do, but once again I think the Met should be custom or archives, not something made for a recent collection.
Now on to the people who absolutely killed it while also staying on theme. First up is Anitta in Moschino. The Gilded Age was all about being dripped in jewels and expensive materials and I think the pearl detailing on her dress perfectly embodied it. The color was stunning and I liked the reference to the bustle as well. Two of my favorite menswear looks were Ben Platt in Christian Cowan and Evan Mock in Head of State. They both took women’s corsetry and mixed it with mens wear suit styles that were popular at the time. They both looked amazing and I hope this starts a trend for mens corsetry. Of course, as someone starring in a show based in the 1800s, it wasn’t a surprise that Nicola Coughlan, who plays Penelope in the hit Netflix show Bridgerton, came dressed for the theme. She wore a beautiful black and pink Richard Quinn dress adorned with a long train, puff sleeves and 3D feather details, possibly a nod to her character whose last name is Featherington. It was perfectly over the top, as Met Gala outfits should be, and the gloves, train and sleeves matched the theme without being too literal. I think she absolutely killed it. Another favorite of mine was Lizzo dressed in Thom Browne. She was also on theme without being too on the nose. Her cape/jacket with Gilded details and dress with corset like boning was a fun take. I love the cutout detail on the bottom, that is something I have never really seen before. And finally, I would be remised if I didn’t mention the queen of the Met, Blake Lively. She kills it every year, and this year was no different. Her and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, were the hosts of the Gala this year, putting extra pressure on her to fit the theme. She never has any problem matching the theme and I loved all of the subtle nods to the Gilded Age in her dress. Most people went in the direction of incorporating Gilded Age fashion into their outfits, but she went with Gilded Age architecture. She was dressed by Versace, but according to a video she recently did with Vogue, she had a big part in the designing of the dress. The pattern of the dress represents the Empire State building and the copper color is the same color of the Statue of Liberty when it was first gifted to New York City in 1884. She is also wearing a crown that has seven spikes, just like the seven spikes on the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and 25 stones to represent the 25 windows in the crown as well. Her red carpet walk was complete with a dramatic unveiling. Her bustle was actually a second train wrapped up. It was unwrapped to reveal a greenish-blue color cascading down the dress. This is the color of the Statue of Liberty after it oxidized. The train also features a pattern on it which is the same pattern on the constellations on the ceiling of Grand Central Station. Overall she did a fabulous job of channeling the time period subtly while also creating a stunning look.
I was less than impressed by most of this years red carpet looks for the Met Gala. But, the people who brought it really brought it. All I can hope is that these celebrities learned from the criticism this year and do better next time.