“Moments Before The Met Gala Was Set to Begin, I Confessed to A Friend, with Whom I’D Been Texting, That I Was A Little Stressed About What Celebrities Wound Wear This Year. Theme and accountanying exhibition – Superfine: Tailoring Black Style – Marked A Historic Moment for the Costume Institute, WHICH Organizes the Fundraising”, – WRITE: www.hollywoodReporter.com
Superfine is inspired by the Scholar Monica L. Miller’s Excellent Book Slaaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and The Styling of Black Diasporic IdentityA Cultural History of Black Dandyism and Its Mist Influential Sartorial Figures, Andrew Bolton, Head Curator at The Institute, Tapped Miller to Help Build.
“Who will do this well?” I Asked My Friend, As if She Were An Oracle. IT TURNS OUT NOT THAT Many people – But the Ones Who did the Understand the Assignment Made Powerful Impressions.
Adhering to a core tenet of the Black Dandy, The Evening’s Dress Code Was A Broad, Interpretive Invitation to Choose An Outfit Tailored to the Wearer. The Best-Dressed Guests Found Distinctive Modes of Self-Expression Within These Capacious Parameters. They, Like the Black Dandies of the 18th and 19th Centuries, used their their attire to Remix their Past and Respond to their Present. THESE OUTFITS-Like Lauryn Hill’s Gorgeous Yellow Get-Up or Teyana Taylor’s Intimate Maroon Costume perfect. ” Their CLOTHES RADIATED A VISIONARY AND FORWARD-THINKING ENERGY.
The More Underwhelming OutFits Stayed with the Realm of Convention, Leaning More Heavily Into Precise Tailoring Than A Radical Vision of Fashion. These Were Were MOSTLY FORGETTATABLE ENSEMBLES, CLOTHES THAT Wuld Not Cause A Stir And Likely to Fade With Time (See See Sydney Sweeey In Miu MiA) Them Were Worng White Celebricies, Who Seened to Struggle in Their Interpretation of This Year’s Theme. There Were Few egregioses faux pas pas, but i will be contemplating who blackpink member lisa’s lisa’s custom -vuitton one Piece, which feetured embroderded porets by the artist Who bears a striking resemblance to rosa parks Right on Her Crotch Area.
As Always, The Stairs Set The Tone for the Night, Inviting Guests and Spectators Watching Through The Vogue LIVESTREAM (WHICH ENDED PROMPTLY AT 9 PM, EXCLUDING MANY OF The MOST Fashionable Atendees) Into the Otherworldly Interior constructed by Raul Avila. This Year’s Steps Were Carpeted with A Deep Blue Fabric Adoorned with White and Yellow Daffodils. The Striking Design Was The Brainchild of the Artist Cy Gavin, Whose Enormous Paintings Have A Celestial Quality To Them.
The Evening Began with The Arrival of the Gala’s Chairs – Wintour, Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, A $ AP ROCKY AND COLMAN DOMINGO EVENING. Lebron James, Who Was Named Honorary Chair, Could Not Atend Because of A Knee Injury. His wife, Savannah James, Still Attached, Wearing A Custom Burgundy Pinstripe Suit Designed by Hanifa, The Label Run Congolese Designer Anifa Mvuemba.
Wintour Didn’t Stramy from Her Usual Uniform in Her Custom Silver Dress by Louis Vuitton (they are the exhibition sponsors) and a Powder Blue Coat; Williams, Who Serves As Men’s Creative Director of Louis Vuitton, Left Much to Be DESIRED DESPITE The Flair of His Double-Breasted Blazer Made of 100,000 Pearls. Together, thesee Two Represited the SAFER, more ORDINARY SET AND SOME OF THE OUTFITS THAT FELL FLAT.
Hamilton, A $ Ap Rocky and Domingo Were the Winners Among This Group of Gala Helmers, with Looks That Eithcher Embrated the Drama of Black Style or The Finer Details that Define Black Dandyism Hamilton Wore An Ivory Ensemble Designed by Grace Wales Bonner and A Buret by Stephen Jones Millinery that Gestureured Taughter The Baobab Flower Affix to His Lapel to the Cowrie Shells and Pearls Dotting His Jacket Tail. A $ AP ROCKY WORE A Three-Piece Black Suit He Designed HimSelf with Christian Louboutin Shoes. His hair was an Event Too, with Cornrows Wrapping AROUND HIS HIS HEAD LIKE A CROWN.
Domingo’s Outfit Was A Double Whammy of Black Queer History and Personal Style. The Sing Sing Actor Started the Evening with A COBALT BLUE, INTRICATELY EMBROIDERED CAPE by Valentino Recalled The Outfits of the Late André Leon Talley And The Ones That Members Of A. Later, Domingo Sloughed Off That Layer To Reveal Another Valentino Get-Up: A Double-Breasted Wool Jacket Embellized with Pearls and Crystals, A Black Neck Scarf Witch Witch. Wide-Leg Wool Trousers.
The Understated PlayFulness of Hamilton’s Attire Found Echoes in Other Outfits from the Evening-Incling Jenna Ortega’s Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing’s Metal Sewing Machine-Shaped Bag and Gold Metal Shirt Under His Wide-Shoulder Suit. Zendaya, Who Surprised Guests at the Met Gala Last Year with Two Distinct Red Carpet Outfits, Opted for A Subtler Look This Year. Working with Co-Conspirator Law Roach, Who Also Styled Tyla, Jeremy Pope, Jon Batiste, Nicki Minaj and Andre 3000, Zendaya Channelled Bianca jagger wagger. from louis vuitton and a complementary wide-brimmed hat. I would be remind not to Mention Kerry Washington’s Custom Piece from Simkhai, WHICH FEATURED A PLUNING NEKKLIN
Not Everyone Kept Quiet Though. Some of the Evening’s MOST MOST MEMORABLE looks Leaned Into Drama, Functioning As Discrete Stories About the People Wearing N. I’m Thinking About Diana Ross’s Gasp-Worthhy Outfit Designed Byo Mozie with Its 18-Fot Train, WHICH HAD The Names of Her Children and Grandchildren Embroidren. Or teyana taylor’s Outfit, WHICH WAS Designed in Collaboration with Academy-Award Winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter.
I Could Talk About Taylor’s Maroon Ensemble – The Pinstripes, The Durag Underneath the Hat, The David Yurman Jewels Adorning The Pans, The Walking Stick and The Words “Harlem Rose” incrib WAS ITS MarRage of Harlem’s Past and Present, with A Slight Nod to Its Future. HER OUTFIT FELT PARTICULARY MEANINGFUL WHEN She, CONDUCTING RED CARPET INTERVIEWS FOR Vogue with ego nwodim (in christopher John Rogers), Spoke to Harlem Legend Dan Dan. HE WORE A WHITE Suit Embroidered with the Ghanaian Adinkra Symbol, Sankofa, WHICH INSTRUCTS US TO REVISIT the PAST IN ORDER TO Understand The Future. How Beautify It Was To See Twom Harlem Icons, Past and Present, Talking About What This Evening Means for Their Futures.
Other Dramatic Storytelers Included Whoopi Goldberg, Al Sharpton, Doja Cat, Brian Tyree Henry, Jodi Turner-Smith (in A Stunning Burgundy Burberry Suit. Lazevski) and Damson Idris, Who Had Handlers Tear Off His F1 Suit (Complete With A Bedazled Helmet) to Reveal a Thon-Piece Crimson Suit by Tommy Hilfiger.
There Was Also Janelle Monae, Who Collaborated with Oscar-Winning Costume Designer Paul Tazewell (Wicked) and Thom browne to create a costume that Bent Time. HER “TIME-TRAVELING DANDY,” AS she referred to the look, fit into the musical’s afro-futurist leanings while also playing with Sharp tailoring. The Exterior Garment Was A Striking Red, White and Black Pinstripe Jacket that Looked Like An Optical Illusion. Monae Continued that Motif in the Interior, WHICH FEATURED A More Fitted Two-Piece Skirt-and-Jacket Combo. She completed the look with a top hat and cheeky Monocle.
However, Perhaps No One Could Top Rihanna, Who Arrived Fashionable Late and Debuted A Baby Bump While Wearing A Marc Jacobs Ensemble that Included a Gray Bustier And Who showed up on the carpet with a piano affixed to his back. In a move that felt in sync with the Idea of Being a Black Dandy – that is, to surprise and subvert – he used the Opportunity to Release a New Project Called 7 Piano Sketches. But What i’d Really Like to Know Is What He Was Carrying in that Trash Bag.