This year the Met Gala’s theme was, “Garden of time.” According to the Met website, this theme is based on J.G Ballard 1962 short story. With the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibition, celebrities who are invited are also expected to dress to this reference.
Despite the controversy of this year’s attendees not being on theme or did not take the theme seriously, many have stated that a lot of attention and details were paid to by the attendees who did show up on theme. Top looks from the attendees include Zendaya’s first look, “Maison Mariela Artisanal ” by John Galliano, with the main colors being royal blue, emerald green and black. These striking dark tones brought a mysterious breeze on to the red carpet. John Galliano also added a noteworthy touch to the outfit by attaching feathers and butterfly wings inspired by a 1999 Dior dress in order to truly represent the theme. A great effort was put in by Zendaya’s makeup artist turning her into a dark fairy with her stunning maroon makeup.
The blue color seems to be one of the top choices for this year’s Met Gala, Anok Yai took “shine bright like a diamond” to a whole new level with a full body Swarovski gem jumpsuit. Her jumpsuit is made out of 98,000 Swarovski gems with 3 different shades of blue creating a magnificent ombre effect covering her head to toes—simple yet breathtaking. A beautiful diamond necklace and earrings were also added to complete the look.
Despite the attention from pre-Met Gala going mostly towards celebrities that were there last year, Tyla made her debut capturing all participants’ hearts with an amazing art “sculpture” by Balmain. Tyla was the first ever to bring a dress made of sand to the Met Gala, inspired by the sand of time to fulfill the theme of “Garden of Time.” The dress was described by fashion critics as an elegant masterpiece beyond imagination. Although it was Tyla’s first time attending the Met, she was sure one of the highlights of the night.
One of the most looked forward attendees this year is of course Elle Fanning, who played “Sleeping Beauty” and she did not fail to impress her fans. Elle Fanning brought us back to our childhood looking like an iced princess with her glassy transparent dress by Bailman. Her outfit was off-shoulder with the neckline composed of two beautiful ice glaze flowers and a dreamy, flowy skirt. She chose to keep everything simple with a natural rosy makeup, a diamond earring by Cartier and silver sandals, making her look even more angelic and delicate.
Stepping away from the water, Karlie Kloss chose a more forward way to approach the theme with a cherry blossom inspired dress. The gown itself was coated in 180,000 rose colored crystals, took more than 225 hours and a team of seven to finish not mentioning the gilded garlands that were made by 60,500 crystals and 5 craftsmen. The dress was purely majestic, with dazzling 3D flowers and petals turning Kloss into a spring faerie.
Female attendees are usually the center of the spotlight in most of the red carpet events, this year though, an unexpected male celebrity, Lil Nas X decided that he will be the star of the night. His garment was made by Raul Lopez of Luar, embellished with 50,000 Swarovski crystals. The suit was simply outstanding, with petal like sash being finely sewn together on an off-white based fabric. He really turned into a Prince with a small white rose added to the charming suit.
Generally speaking, this year’s Met Gala was judged to be way better than last year, considering last year’s red carpet was described as “a fashion crime” or a total chaotic mess. This year Met was arguably one of the best in term of looks and outfits.
