Met Gala 2021 occurred last night. Hold for missed marks, looks served, and themes ignored.
On the first Monday in May of each year, a ball, hosted by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, honors the latest exhibit of the Costume Institute. The event is a who’s who in activism, Hollywood, and the high fashion industry at large. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, the 2020 event suffered a cancellation and the 2021 event experienced a four month delay. Last night, the Met Gala resumed, complete with the iconic red carpet in which guests can showcase their dress choices.
The annual Gala features a theme each year for attendants to consider when choosing their outfit for the night. Designers work tirelessly on custom pieces. It is a goal to go all out for this annual high society event. When considering the hard work of the designers and the iconic eras for each theme, last night’s red carpet showing felt lackluster.
The theme in question this year: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” As a result, I expected red, white and blue everywhere, some military tributes, and some good old fashioned Hollywood glamour. However, I was disturbed to see that most people seemed to ignore the theme, and instead dress as though it were an average red carpet event.
The scandal! Hollywood’s finest must be invited by Anna Wintour to attend the event. If an average person wants to go, ticket prices start at 35,000 USD! The exclusivity makes attending the Met Gala an honor. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to SQUANDER that opportunity and treat it like a run-of-the-mill movie premiere or charity dinner.
However, I will not act like the outfits last night were ABYSMAL. There were several attendees who “understood the assignment.” Let’s hope that their efforts go detected by Anna Wintour when she selects the co-chairs for the event next year.
Met Gala 2021 – The Good
Billie Eilish – A co-chair for the event, Billie took to the red carpet in soft blonde hair and a soft pink dress. By dress, I mean massive ballgown that cascaded down the staircase behind her. Her tribute to Hollywood iconoclasts of the golden era felt reminiscent to Marilyn Monroe.
Amanda Gorman – Best known for performing a spoken word at Biden’s inauguration earlier this year, Amanda channeled Lady Liberty in her costume. She wore a sparkling blue dress, reminiscent of the American flag, paired with a jeweled laurel headpiece. The clincher for me? A clutch shaped like a book that read “Give me your tired,” in reference to the poem at the base of the statue. What an incredible way to honor her roots, and America’s roots!
Yara Shahidi – Dressed in Dior, the actress paid homage to Josephine Baker, a legend on and offscreen. The bedazzled dress paired with long gloves and a sparkling headpiece created quite a tribute to the Roaring 20s actress turned freedom fighter! Yara serves as a global ambassador for Dior as of this year. Based on this look, it’s a title well earned!
Nikkie de Jager – Best known as NikkiTutorials in the Youtube community, trans influencer Nikkie arrived in a soft aqua dress designed by Edwin Oudshoorn. Adorning the dress were glamorous flowers and a sash reading “Pay it No Mind.” Nikkie described the dress as a tribute to Marsha P. Johnson, who stands at the forefront of the gay rights movement in America. Nikkie’s presence reminds us of America’s longlasting fight for equality for all. Read that again: for ALL!
Met Gala 2021 – The Bad
Madison Beer – LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN. Madison Beer is possibly one of the most beautiful women in the mainstream right now. With that in mind, I don’t know what the thought process was for the dress she wore last night. Designed by Patricia Voto, her emerald green dress was pretty, but looked unflattering on Madison’s petite frame. Again, Madison on her worst day is prettier than 99 percent of the world on their best day. This dress is fine, but certainly not Met Gala worthy, and not for Madison Beer. Her after party dress was a vast improvement.
Evan Mock – While certainly winning points for being a talking point, the star of the Gossip Girl reboot showed up in a leather face mask. I understand the urge to channel the rock n’ roll scene in America, but the whole ensemble felt like a bit much. Meanwhile, it would appear that Shawn Mendes also sought to channel rock and roll fashion, and he did not disappoint.
Diane Krueger – One of the most elegant women alive in one of the worst dresses I’ve ever seen. She wore a lime green (no) bubble dress (what) that stopped at the top of her thighs (please) and came with a long train (why). Baby girl. You’re so stunning. Who did this to you? Where is he?
Met Gala 2021 – The Missed Marks
Dixie D’amelio – It came SO close to being good. She wore a Valentino black dress, paired with a massive black feathered hat and gloves. If she was attempting to channel Audrey Hepburn and her iconic contributions to American fashion, she succeeded. I see it. However, the gloves were TOO baggy and the dress should have been longer to bring the point home.
Hailey Baldwin Bieber – The long black dress. The sunglasses. The Tiffany + Co jewelry. Hailey clearly channeled Audrey. And yet, I felt underwhelmed by her design choices. Firstly, Hailey is one of the most popular models in the world. Secondly, she’s married to one of the most popular men in the world. Lastly, she’s from one of the most famous Hollywood families in the world. You mean to tell me that for an Audrey tribute, she couldn’t have gotten a custom Givenchy? Hailey couldn’t have worn one of Audrey’s actual dresses for the night? What point is it to have connections if you can’t do an Audrey tribute the RIGHT way?
Kim Kardashian – Oh, Kimberly. Kim arrived, literally, in head-to-toe black. In a design created by Balenciaga, Kim wore face masks and full black ensembles, obscuring their faces and bodies entirely. The look appears to promote her ex-husband Kanye West’s new album, DONDA, for which the album cover is a black square.
I give Kim credit for riding so hard for Kanye, but is the Met Gala the place for shameless promotion like this? She attributes Kanye for bringing out the best in her creatively, but what is a statement piece if there’s no statement behind it? She has previously had incredible looks on the Met Gala carpet, and I feel like had she taken that inspiration and channeled it into the theme, it would truly have been a style moment. Alas, it just proved a point I already knew: we don’t need to see Kim’s face to know it’s Kim’s body.
The Met Gala 2021 had plenty to offer. Beautiful costumes on theme, pretty dresses that I’d love to see anywhere else, and men just… wearing tuxedos. Seriously, I love you guys, but effort! Please! Knowing that I will likely never attend a Met Gala, I only wish that those who have the opportunity to enjoy the night’s festivities don’t waste it. I also hope that Anna Wintour invites Billie Eilish and Amanda Gorman to return as co-chairs for future Galas. They clearly know what they’re doing!
All photos courtesy of The Cut and Glamour Magazine.
