By Claiborne Dillard

This year’s Met Gala occurred on Sept. 13 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Vogue describes this annual fashion event as “an evening when designers, models, and Hollywood stars convene in the year’s most over-the-top looks to celebrate and fundraise at a new exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.” Every year, the event has a theme, and this year’s theme was American Independence, but celebrities often decide to not follow the theme and instead dress up however they desire.

Although sources differ on how much tickets to the event cost, Newsweek claims each one costs around 30,000 dollars. Starting at 275,000 dollars, designers and brands will typically buy tables and invite celebrities to the Met Gala, resulting in free tickets for certain celebrities. Designers tend to invite “buzziest celebrities of the moment as their guests, so you can expect some big Hollywood names on the carpet.” With the expensive prices required to attend, the Met Gala has raised around 175 million dollars during its existence.

The Met Gala was created in 1948 by Eleanor Lambert, a fashion publicist. At the start, the Met Gala was only a small-scale, black-tie event where high-class people from around Manhattan gathered. A few decades later, Diana Vreeland, a prior editor of Vogue, altered the way of how the Met Gala functioned. Instead of a private affair, Vreeland transformed it into an enormous publicity event with Hollywood celebrities. Vreeland also introduced a themed dress code and implemented a reception before the event for celebrities to publicize their extravagant outfits. After Vreeland passed away in 1989, legendary Vogue editor Anna Wintour became the new chairwoman. The only alterations she made were to invite Hollywood entertainers and fashion influencers, along with celebrities, and she changed the month of the event from December to May. 

Photo credit: Jennifer Lopez’s Instagram page.

In the span of 73 years, there have been many famous moments that have been either controversial or eye-opening at the Gala. For example, in 1999, Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney twinned wearing cotton DIY tank tops for a very rare, casual look. In 2014, Jay-Z and Beyoncé were caught on cameras fighting in one of the elevators at the Met Gala, and Beyonce later wrote a song with the lines “Of course sometimes **** goes down / When it’s a billion dollars on an elevator,” referring to that night. Also, the rapper 2 Chainz proposed to Kesha Ward during the event in 2018. It was later released that the proposal was staged and the couple was already engaged and married. The staged moment was explained by Christopher Rosa of Glamour to be a “reaffirmation of their affection.” 

This year, there were many distinctions from years past. The gala was in September, when it usually happens in May, and this year’s theme was American Independence. Outfits varied, showing off many different parts of American culture. For example, Marina Liao and The Zoe Report described how Jennifer Lopez took the Wild West route, wearing “a custom embroidered long dress, which was styled with a faux fur shearling cape. The look was completed with vintage accessories, including a Navajo-stamped silver ring and jewelry from the Ralph Lauren archives,” while Cara Delevingne took another route, wearing a “Peg the Patriarchy” outfit from Christian Dior. 

As expected, there were COVID-19 restrictions and limits for the gala this year. Last year, the Met Gala was canceled, so the co-chairs made sure to keep the environment safe so that everyone could have a pleasurable experience. All of the attendees had to be fully vaccinated, have a negative rapid PCR test the day before the event, and everyone had to wear masks inside of the museum other than while eating or drinking.

Photo credit: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram page.

Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic New York Congresswoman, wore what many call a controversial outfit. Her white Brother Vellies dress, with the phrase “Tax the Rich” in big, bold, red letters on the back, was seen by people from both political parties as hypocritical. The New York Times said Democrats described it as “a chorus of dissatisfaction from progressives and self-described socialists disappointed by a gesture they said caricatured a progressive cause and underscored their sense that she is not maximizing her ability to fight for working people from Congress.” Also, Donald Trump, Jr., the former president’s oldest son, sent out a tweet on Twitter about taxing the rich “while she’s hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites.” Despite different views, Ocasio-Cortez sure did make a statement, which is often one of the main objectives of the Met Gala.

Photo credit: Justin Bieber’s Instagram page.

Although not as political, a crowd stood outside of the Metropolitan museum chanting “Selena,” referring to Selena Gomez, as Justin and Hailey Beiber walked by. Because of Justin’s old, long-lasting, toxic relationship with Gomez, many fans have become very obsessed with their love life. After they broke up in 2012, he eventually married Hailey Baldwin (now Beiber). Hailey still receives backlash from fans because they were so attached to Selena and Justin’s relationship. Hailey was found tearing up after they walked into the gallery, but Justin made sure to reassure her of any rumors fans had created. She wore sunglasses for the remainder of the night.

There are many modifications and surprising factors every year during the Met Gala, but that is what makes the outside world interested in these celebrities’ lives. The public obsesses over outfits from each year and cannot wait for the next Met Gala to come along next year. One interesting component of the Met Gala is its secrecy. The board members have made it clear that no selfies or photos should be taken once inside. The public has little idea of what happens after each celebrity enters the museum, creating a fun mystery for everyone to try and unfold.