Met Gala 2022: The Highs and Lows of Gilded Glamour

26/06/2022

Kendra Williams talks us through some of the best and worst looks of the biggest annual event in fashion

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Image by Wikimedia Commons - Gift of Orme Wilson and R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of their mother, Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor Wilson, 1949

By Kendra Williams

This year the biggest night out in fashion was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first Monday of May 2022. First though, a quick potted history of the annual event. The Met Gala was founded in 1948 by Eleanor Lambert with the aim to raise money for the Costume Institute, which was merged with the Museum of Metropolitan Art in 1946. The benefit is now overseen by editor in chief of Vogue Anna Wintour, and the famous red carpet dress codes for guests link to the Met’s current fashion exhibits. The themes of the 2021 and 2022 red carpets have therefore been inspired by the American Fashion exhibition currently showing at the Met, with the 2022 theme guiding guests to fit the brief of 'Gilded Glamour and White Tie'.

The Gilded Age refers to the time of economic boom in America between the civil war and the mid 19th century. Gilded era fashion centres around elegance, large bustle skirts and materials like lace and satin. Many of the celebrities seem to have centred the ‘glamour’ rather than the ‘Gilded’ here so let’s have a little look at who brilliantly met the theme and who did their own thing. The much beloved actress, Emma Stone, wore a knee length flapper style dress to the Met Gala this year. There’s some really amazing things about this outfit and some things that aren’t so great. First of all, the dress Emma Stone is wearing is the same dress that she wore to the after party of her wedding. This sets an amazing sustainable fashion precedent – re-wearing and reusing outfits is something rarely seen in the celebrity and high fashion world. I applaud Emma Stone for bringing this to our attention and making such a cool statement. However, the dress she wore is clearly in a flapper style – it has fringe around the hem and is in the loose fitting straight down style of the androgynous 1920’s women's wear. But as you will notice, the 1920s is not in the Gilded Age! Nor is this dress particularly glamorous, in a simple unembellished print with white heels. So we are off to a very mixed start.

This year, Blake Lively was one of the co-chairs of the Met along with her husband Ryan Reynolds and others such as Regina King, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. With the responsibility of chairing, Blake lively really had a lot to live up to with her outfit this year, and she definitely delivered. In one of the stand out pieces of the evening, Blake Lively was seen wearing a gorgeous jewelled copper gown which transformed (with the help of a couple of stewards) from copper to blue. This was to mimic the patina effect that copper goes through over time making it appear turquoise, as seen in the aging of America's iconic Statue of Liberty. Lively described her dress as ‘a homage to New York city’. The bodice took detailing from the Empire State building, the draping mimicked the skirt on the Statue of Liberty and her train had the ceiling design of grand central station. However, as I have been so harsh on Emma Stone for her adherence to the theme it is only right to give Blake Lively the same treatment. Luckily, the Statue of Liberty was built in 1876 so I am happy to declare her officially on theme.

Although there are some other really beautiful looks from the night that I would love to talk about, given the seismic nature of what Kim Kardashian did on the runaway I really cannot close this article without referencing her bold red carpet appearance. Making her and Pete Davidson's red carpet debut as a couple, Kim Kardashian donned Marylin Monroe’s 1962 Jean Louis gown, in which Monroe famously sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy. Understandably, this has sparked huge controversy from fans, designers and historians.
Whilst it seems to adhere to some kind of cultural symmetry, with Kardashian occupying a ‘sex symbol’ role in modern pop culture similar to that of Marylin Monroe, the choice to wear this iconic dress is problematic on multiple levels. Since Marylin’s death, her face has become even more ubiquitous, often losing any connection to the real person that she was, and this dress just seems to delve further into that disconnected hype. The dress’ original designer, Bob Mackie, has spoken out to say that he thinks Kim Kardashian wearing the dress was a mistake. Not only could wearing the dress cause serious problems for its historic preservation, Kardashian has also spoken out about losing significant amounts of weight to wear the dress which is an incredibly dangerous message to send to young fans. And finally, my own personal take, even if Kardashian had worn a replica this dress is so far outside the Gilded Age theme, and so much less glamorous than some other looks on the carpet it seems to have been an all round mistake.

All in all, there were inevitably many highs and lows of the Met Gala this year, with some stealing the red carpet, whilst others just missed the mark. As usual, many guests interpret the theme as their own and it's interesting and exciting to see what our favourite icons will grace the red carpet with; of course, there is no right and wrong in fashion. Plus, with a lot of the major fashion stars, such as Zendaya and Rihanna, missing we’ll all have to sit back, wait, and see what next year brings for the biggest night in fashion.