Joylynn Lee
Executive Arts Editor
The Metropolitan Museum of Arts held its annual Met Gala on May 1, inviting hundreds of celebrities representing designer brands like Chanel, Versace, and Valentino in this celebration of fashion. However, the Met Gala failed to live up to its fashionable and iconic legacy due to its monstrous outfits displayed and its controversial theme praising a bigoted designer, Karl Lagerfeld.
The Met Gala has been a long- held annual tradition since 1995 by Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. This charity event raises eight-figure sums annually due to a price setting up the event and getting into the event. This fashion exhibition portraying relevant Hollywood’s A-listers creates a representation of this generation of fashion and where it’s currently heading.
This event has been celebrating fashion and the beauty of creativity since 1960. Beautiful and iconic outfits would be displayed on that classic carpet at the Metropolitan, inspiring viewers and potentially future Met Gala attendees. However, from the outfits portrayed this year, the Met Gala was truly a disappointment compared to previous years.
The main issue was the theme, “In honor of Karl.” The theme in the Met Gala was always an idea or a concept, but this year was an idolization of a single person, Karl Lagerfeld. He was one of the most acclaimed and accomplished designers in the 20th century for renewing the concept of Chanel by binding class to the brand. Though Lagerfeld paved the way for fashion industries, he made numerous bigoted comments, supported eating-disorders, and publicly abhorred the #metoo movement by stating comments like “she asked for it.” Lagerfeld should never have been selected as the 2023 Met Gala theme due to his controversial ideologies mainly directed toward women portraying a backward direction on progression.
The overall wardrobe choices were genuinely concerning due to questionable outfits portrayed by numerous celebrities. Doja Cat’s wardrobe can be arguably one of the worst outfits ever portrayed at the Met Gala in decades. Her entire wardrobe had viewers puzzled due to the motive behind her cat-looking outfit. She had transformed her face, creating the visual of a cat but with a classic Oscar de la Renta white gown, fostering a confused audience.
Pedro Pascal’s wardrobe choice was also questionable due to an odd mixture of casual yet formal attire. Fitted by Valentino, Pascal wore a long red Valentino coat but put it together with black shorts, going from daring to a rushed look instantly.
Though many outfits were out-of-pocket and immensely alarming, Anne Hathaway truly stunned on the Met carpet with her Versace dress consisting of a strapless white-tweeded long dress with perfectly hemmed cutouts on the top of her dress covered with pearls and gold safety pins, creating that original look. Her beautiful overall look can be easily claimed as the winner of this year’s Met Gala.
Another rare beautiful outfit displayed on the carpet was Jennie Kim’s iconic black and white vintage 1990s Chanel dress. It was a perfect display of Chanel due to that classy and minimalist yet complex look from the accessories to the hair. She wore a simple white dress with a black bow hugging her waist with a rose placed perfectly at the center of the bow. Her dress was added with black gloves, a black choker, sheer black stockings, and black pumps. She also wore a matching white rose on her braided headband commemorating her culture on the carpet.
Florence Pugh was styled by Pierpaolo Piccioli and overall disappointed on carpet. Her dress was unique; however, her head piece created an overall tacky look.
Though there were some celebrities who flawlessly executed their outfits in the Met Gala this year, the majority of the outfits shown were disappointing, horrifying, and even tacky. The Met Gala has been known for its exclusive and iconic outfits inspiring viewers; however, the 2023 Met Gala truly let down expectations that have been held for decades. From commemorating a bigoted designer to purely dreadful outfits, this event was overall disheartening.
The 2023 Met Gala was on May 1 at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts.
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