If these were normal days, I would have been up at about 4 am to cover the Met Gala nonstop for eight hours today. “The First Monday In May” was yesterday, and that was when every fashionable celebrity and model was due to attend the 2020 Met Gala. The gala was postponed this year early on, and my guess is that there will not be a Met Gala this year at all, because I really can’t imagine Anna Wintour trying to organize something for, like, November? Especially since we don’t know what the pandemic is going to look like this fall.
All of which to say, I did enjoy the fact that I’m not a giant ball of stress today, but I am longing for that rush of new fashion and red carpet drama. Thankfully, some celebrities have been posting photos of what would have been their Met Gala looks this year (note: this is different than Billy Porter’s Met Gala Challenge, which Hecate covered). Julia Roberts posted this photo which – I would assume – was probably from an early fitting in February or March in New York. And can I just say? I would have RIPPED Julia on this gown. The tulle, the layers, the black-and-white… it’s not a good look at all. Bish would have looked like Beetlejuice. The theme of this year’s gala was supposed to be “About Time: Fashion and Duration”, inspired by Virginia Woolf and the theories of the French philosopher Henri Bergson. WTF do tulle ruffles have to do with Virginia Woolf?!?
Amanda Seyfried also showed off her Met Gala look – this looks on-theme to me.
Vogue’s Twitter also ran some throwback photos to highlight their piece which was sort of the “oral history” of the Met Gala. Look at the terrible slip-dress John Galliano made for Princess Diana!!
"[John Galliano] made this incredible bias-cut slip dress for Princess Diana, and it was the first garment that John made under the creative directorship at Dior. That’s the first time the #Metgala came onto my radar… [in 1996]." https://t.co/78GIvb1VeU pic.twitter.com/rbiY98588r
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) May 4, 2020
When I’ve searched back through my memory banks to my favorite Met Gala looks of all time, I keep coming back to Anne Hathaway’s beautiful gold Ralph Lauren at the 2014 gala (the one with the China theme).
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
I think one of my favorite Met Gala looks was Rihanna’s HUGE yellow robe-gown from 2014. It was perfectly on theme (the designer was Chinese as well) and was fabulously over the top and extravagant…it’s the Costume Gala, I love seeing the celebs who really go for it.
In retrospect, the 2014 gala was SO GOOD
It was amazing, but Fan BingBing in Bu was the one who knocked it out of the park that year.
https://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2015/05/05/fan-bingbing-chris-christopher-bu-2015-met-gala/
I went to a Guo Pei exhibit in Vancouver and got to see the dress in person. It’s incredible and breath-taking when you can see all the beading and embroidery in person.
I think about that garment all the damn time. Every year I compare every look. “Sure it’s great but it’s no Rihanna in gold.”
Julia’s dress looks cheap. And people are going to rip the narcissim of posting the pic, assuming that she’s complaining about not getting to go when most people have real problems. I didn’t even realize she was one of the people who usually attended the Gala. Doesn’t seem like something she would do.
I love Julia’s dress! #sorrynotsorry
Me too
Me too. And I would go so far as to say she is referencing the vintage black and white Valentino she wore to the Oscars in 2001 – its a stretch I know, but if so it does fit the theme.
I thought the same thing! My mind went immediately to that dress, which I didn’t love but I guess is now iconic.
I don’t hate it as much as I expected to.
Same here!
The FUG girls did some fun retrospectives yesterday.
JR’s gown looks like a 1980s Pretty in Pink dressmaking attempt. It’s as if someone hit the mall bargain racks for a strapless black mini and then added three crinolines on the outside. I’m picturing the dyeing and cutting of those bouncy crinolines as the angst-driven dressmaker was determined to show Blaine and the haters what they missed!
I’m waiting for her to just go all out and wear another homemade message t-shirt and blazer.
As for Diana in a slip dress – oh my.
LOL I love her dress from what I can see of it. It looks very old school red carpet Julia.
I love Julia’s dress!
Me too! I think the picture is gorgeous and I love everything about it!
Word.
That bathroom is gorgeous too. Wow. Even bubbles!!! Hahah
I love that bathtub!!
I guess I like JR’s dress, which irritates me because I can’t stand her. But Anne Hathaway’s was so elegant…
How does Amanda Seyfried keep foxes out of the hen pen- the wire is not even stretched down to the dirt ground, which a predator could easily tunnel through. It would be nice to have fresh eggs during this time.
I think my favourite Met Gala dress was one worn by SJP made by Alexander McQueen who went with her that year
I actually love Julia’s dress, but I’m a sucker black and white. I’m sad we didn’t get the Met Gala this year…it’s so much looking at the outfits. However, I get so annoyed every year by ppl who don’t stick to the theme, so I won’t have to deal with that I guess. I kinda hope they reschedule it to November or something, since that seems like a popular month for rescheduled events, but if there is a second wave, they’ll probably just try again for next year.
I love Julia’s dress, and I’m not sorry about it! Also: I am so jealous of that bathtub!
I like her dress,she looks pretty.
It looks identical to Mandy Moore’s Emmys dress. Like to the point I’m wondering if it’s the same one? Mandy’s was Carolina Herrera.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/a12262630/mandy-moores-emmy-awards-dress-2017/
I think it’s the same dress. Good catch.
Isnt this the same dress Meghan wore for something? Vanity Fair? I dont remember but this…seems familiar.
If it is, Mandy Moore also wore it to the 2017 Emmys. I wonder if this is what she was actually going to wear or if she just had it and is saving the real one for the actual Met ball whenever it happens.
Yes, I remember this! Meghan wore the dress for her Vanity Fair interview just before their engagement was announced. Then Mandy Moore wore the dress around the same time for the Emmy’s.
I watched the E! Met special last night and there were so many amazing looks I forgot about. The Zac Posen with LED skirt that Claire Danes wore a few years ago was so gorgeous and fun. Riri’s huge gold gown for the China theme was also just so freaking spectacular. And sorry y’all, but I really liked Kim Kardashian’s wet look from last year. The corset she wore made her proportions so insane and it was definitely campy.
No Met this year is one of those things I’m really missing. I’m going to be on gofugyourself later today to try to fill the huge fashion void. I wouldn’t be opposed to a celebitchy look back as well… if you wonderful bloggers were so inclined I’d be all over another Met post.
What was the Met theme this year? I hate when celebs go for pretty and don’t go with the theme. Sarah Jessica Parker is always on point,
Hmmmm…. my all time favorite look was Zendaya in that chainmail dress. Good lord, that girl can wear clothes. For the theme she just rocked it. I also love what Rihanna brings to the event as well. They both just seem to have fun.
Yes, Zendaya as Joan of Arc was incredible!
I don’t know. Frankly, Virginia Woolf and Bergson present a very thorough and complete dichotomy. Psychologically, however, a line can be drawn from Woolf to Bergson. Perhaps Julia is tapping into Bergson by embracing frivolity and laughter through tulle. I’ve had too much coffee. I like the damn dress lol.
I’m in the minority here, but I like it. It’s simple; it’s puffy. I dig it.
Ugh, I hate Met Ball themes. They always go over my head.
I know, it’s like I need to read a full thesis statement to understand what they mean and then 4 separate thought pieces about how to interpret it before understanding if I love or hate someone’s look.
I’d totally wear Julia’s dress.
I loved Rihanna in the black tux. And I loved Naomi last year. And I gasped when I saw Kim in the gold Versace. Always the Olsen Twins. And always Kate Moss.
That bathtub/shower 😍
I think it looks as trashy as she is!
I don’t like Julia’s dress at all, but I love Anne’s dress, and Princess Di’s dress!
Read that Diana hated that slip dress, but wore it because of her friendship with the designer and Liz Tilbris, the editor at Harpers B. To me it looks cheap and ill fitting. I do like Julia’s dress.