The Met Gala Through Lily's Lens
A tasteful mix of critiques and commentary...
Five days ago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art held their annual Met Gala, an event showcasing fashion at its very best to raise money for the Met’s Costume Institute. Widely regarded as fashion’s biggest night, celebrities from all backgrounds flocked to Manhattan to attend the yearly charity event.
This year’s theme was “The Garden of Time” inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story. The Met exhibit utilized for the event was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Ever since this theme was announced, I have been eagerly researching possible archived looks and designer options that could be showcased at the gala.
The Met Gala is extremely exclusive with most celebrities attending with a designer, which means they are wearing them as well (i.e. Taylor Russell attended the Met Gala with Loewe in a Loewe-designed piece). However, you can also buy a ticket for $75,000 each.
Anna Wintour, the British and American editor of Vogue chaired the event alongside Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth. Wintour appeared on the carpet first in a Loewe gown with embroidered flowers. Her outfit was more a classic, safe choice in my opinion, but beautiful nonetheless.
I watched the entire livestream of the event and took notes on my favorite and least favorite outfits, along with other commentary.
My Favorite Looks of the Night
Zendaya
Zendaya’s looks were my absolute favorite of the night, both gowns matched the theme beautifully and were incredibly unique. Her first piece was Maison Margiela by John Galliano, a blue and green gown with floral embellishments, with dark makeup. Her second look was Vintage Givenchy, a black gown with a floral headpiece (which I predicted she would wear!) I have been closely following Zendaya’s style recently with her various looks for the premieres of Challengers and Met Gala events, and I’ve been in awe. Her stylist Law Roach is iconic and never fails to curate the perfect outfit for her regardless of the event.
Left - Maison Margiela & Right - Givenchy Colman Domingo
2. I was completely shocked when I found out that this year’s Met was Domingo’s first because he has consistently been one of the best-dressed celebrities of all of the events he has attended this year.
Domingo was dressed in a custom white Willy Chavarria tux, black pants, Christian Louboutin shoes, tux embellishments, and a cape. He also wore colored contacts, light makeup, and several different jewelry pieces including a watch and various rings. In an exclusive interview, Domingo claimed that his outfit pays homage to the late Chadwick Boseman, as he wore a suit with a white cape to the 2018 Met. My very favorite part of his look was the white lilies he carried with him, that were covered in black wrapping. Without a doubt, he was the best-dressed gentleman at the Met this year.
Mona Patel
3. To be honest, I had no idea who this woman was until I saw her on-screen Monday night, but I immediately fell in love with her look. Mona Patel is an entrepreneur and philanthropist, with a fashion-focused non-profit, among others. She debuted at the Met in a custom Iris van Herpen dress and was styled by the fabulous Law Roach. Patel was truly one of the only attendees at the Met who I felt was 100% on theme for the evening and am still obsessed with her gown and the arm embellishments.
Given my deep appreciation of certain celebrities encapsulating the theme, I can’t help but mention Lewis Hamilton, who was dressed in custom Burberry and incorporated an interesting piece of history into his look. Hamilton claimed that he researched ideas for his outfit and came across an 18th-century young man who traveled to Wales from Africa as a slave and became the first Black gardener in Wales. The thorns around his neck were representative of the pain during times of slavery. Inside his coat pocket, he had a poem by Alex Walton, a famous Black poet. It says a lot about a person when they make the effort to do in-depth research and are also able to tie in history and culture in their look as well.
Other Looks I Loved
Sarah Jessica Parker in a Richard Quinn dress and a Phillip Treacy hat
Ayo Edebiri in custom Loewe
Taylor Russell in custom Loewe
Tyla in Balmain
Anok Yai in Swarovski
Wisdom Kaye in custom Robert Wun
Lana Del Rey in Alexander McQueen
Kendall Jenner in archival Givenchy
Dove Cameron in Diesel
One brand I found to be the best dressed as a whole at the Met was Loewe. Their Creative Director Jonathan Anderson attended and brought several celebrities including Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist (he was also the costume designer for Challengers), Luca Guadagnino, Ayo Edebiri, Taylor Russell, Omar Apollo, and Anna Wintour. I loved seeing all of their looks and how they matched the theme.
Missing the Mark
While I hate to say it, several celebrities missed the mark in terms of dressing on theme. Not to say I did not enjoy their looks, they just simply did not match the “Garden of Time” specifications. Jennifer Lopez, Emily Ratajkowski, Kim Kardashian, and Nicole Kidman (among many others) all looked great but completely misunderstood the assignment for the event. Along with all the men who showed up in plain black and white tuxes, which is why I always can’t help but rave about Colman Domingo.
Overall, I enjoyed this year’s Met, I loved the theme, attendees, and looks. I always find it interesting to see how every theme will be interpreted by different people, and this year’s might just go down as my favorite yet.
Thank you for reading!
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May 4th - New Month, A New Favorite (click to read)
- Lily
