Who looked angelic? Who raised an unholy row? And whose wardrobe needs a divine intervention? We know, the puns available for a fashion event with the theme “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” are endless and in questionable taste. So from here on in, we’ll just focus on the attire for this year’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala.
For the biggest fashion event of the year, the carpet was pale gold (not red). The weather was divine, as the night sky sported its sapphire Sunday best. We saw no rosaries, but there was an enormous black rose carried by a Madonna. One couple made a pop decision to unite in holy matrimony. And some of the ensembles were downright heavenly.
OK, we promise to stop now.
Despite what you may think of the wisdom of a museum exhibit devoted to the influence of religion on fashion – and a glamorous, $30,000-per-person party to celebrate its opening – you have to admit it: this is a ridiculously difficult event to dress for, and it’s fascinating to see who wore what. If you thought the Golden Globes all-black dictate was tough, try getting this theme right.
Think about it. There are so many ways to get it wrong: too safe, too sassy – offensively sacrilegious, or dully sanctimonious.
No matter where you come out on the propriety of holding such an event at all, it’s an unmissable opportunity to learn something new about fashion, even for the most sophisticated sartorialists among us.
Armies of stylists, luxury brands and creative spirits have devoted countless hours to this exercise. So how did they do? And what can we humble few take from their tutelage when we pull ourselves together for our next big night out?
Here are 6 lessons we learned, with photos courtesy of Getty Images to illustrate our points. We don’t believe in fashion shaming here at Dandelion Chandelier, so you won’t find any “don’t” photos (although in all honesty, in this instance there were many, many not just “don’ts” but “please girl, we beg of you, just don’ts“).
But we digress.
We’re only sharing the looks we loved with the rationale behind them. Here’s our take on the most important fashion gala of the year:
1. If you don’t have a brilliant solution, just wear a chic black dress. As if we needed any further proof, the evening was confirmation that as Kate Moss ages, she just gets more fierce. You can’t argue with anything about her look – and her badass attitude renders anyone else’s opinion utterly irrelevent, anyway.
2. Jewel tones, embellishment, flights of fancy and rich opulence are what this occasion required. Alek Wek totally nailed it. So did rising star designer Sies Marjan, who dressed Doutzen Kroes. Imagination is in the title of the event — and he showed what a lively one can do. That dress is lovely, mesmerizing, and memorable, and it has so many layers of embedded meaning – it folds gently around her like a protective benediction. Priyanka Chopra‘s elegant look reportedly was intended to “channel the mosaics of the Byzantine era.” Blake Lively‘s dress hit all the right notes. And can we just say that Amal Clooney is always on point? She arrived sporting a corset top, navy slacks, and a skirt with a silver-and-rose-patterned train that crinkled like foil. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Girl, that ensemble is dope! Love the cigarette pant, love the embroidery, love the train, love all of it.
3. Solid metallics and shine also got the job done. Hammered gold and silver appeared in several guises. Olivia Munn, in a chain mail headpiece, said her look was inspired by the Crusades. We’ll buy that.
4. Who knew that vibrant yellow would work in a situation like this one? These women did. Totally unexpected, and really refreshing, like a ray of sunlight in a dark room. We’re usually afraid of yellow, but this is making us feel . . . less yellow about yellow.
5. When in doubt, dress like an angel. Or a monk. Anna Wintour, Rooney Mara and a few others opted for looks that were modest, pale, unadorned and clean. Maybe playing it safe is actually a wise strategy, especially if you’re the host. Besides, cool austerity on the part of some guests is a necessary palate cleanser on a night like this. And its impossible not to love Yara Shahidi‘s cherubic Chanel dress, and her infectious exuberance.
6. When you’re a global superstar/icon/boss, you can do whatever suits your fancy. For Rihanna, that means rocking a papal-inspired headpiece, a heavily beaded mini-dress topped with a skirt and cropped jacket, and a crucifix necklace. For Frances McDormand, it means donning a Valentino Couture ensemble straight from Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Spring 2018 couture runway, floral headdress included. Salma Hayak‘s gorgeous embroidered gown appeared to have absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the evening, but so what? Ditto Cindy Crawford‘s. Power means wearing exactly what you want.
Wakanda was in the house, with three cool dudes sporting very different looks, and a cross-galaxy pairing of a Wakandan princess and a Star Wars pilot. In this case, are we crushing harder on the saint or the sinner? Your call, dear reader. Tough one.
As we mentioned, the red carpet frenzy was all so intense and so magical that rapper 2 Chainz proposed to his girlfriend as they walked into the event, admitting that he’d decided to pop the question “only about a minute” before doing so. Who says fashion doesn’t have real power?
Well, that was great fun. Time to return to the real world. In the unlikely event that any of us will be called upon to dress for the bright global spotlight in the perfect combination of the sacred and the profane, now we’ll know exactly what to do.
Amen.
