The Met Gala once again brought out the best looks of the year. This year’s theme was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion with a Garden of Time.” Remember this key detail and you will already have done a better job than most celebrities.
Musician Tyla leaned into the dress code and had what I thought was the best outfit of the night — only one or two other guests came close. Her dress, made by Olivier Rousteing of Balmain, was made of sand and molded to her body.
“I just never seen anything like it,” Kaden Morris, a sophomore political science student, said. “It was very unique.”
Everything down to the hour glass clutch screamed “sands of time,” — a less literal but still powerful take on the theme. As she ascended the Met stairs, Tyla had to be carried because she could hardly walk in her dress. Later on in the night, Rousteing cut off the bottom of the dress, improving its functionality, but sadly costing her the magic of the dress.
The runner up to Tyla and also wearing Balmain, actress Elle Fanning’s dress was a real jaw-dropping look. Made out of layers of resin, the sculpted dress looked like something out of a movie, or better yet, a poem. The dress is a nod to the poem and dress code inspiration “The Garden of Time” by J.G. Ballard. Taking on the dress code literally means a sacrifice in interpretation, but her execution of the clothing is on-par with Tyla and no one else.
Musician Doja Cat let me down this year, but her take on the theme was at the very least interesting. Wearing only a wet oversized white t-shirt from Vetements, Doja Cat drew in a lot of negative attention for her take on sleeping beauties. Using a timeless cotton tee to justify her use of the theme was fashion forward, but the shirt itself does not move the needle.
Actor Colman Domingo was one of the few men at the Met Gala who looked good and dressed to the theme. His outfit paid tribute to fashion icon André Leon Talley and actor Chadwick Boseman’s previous Met Gala looks. Wearing a cream-colored cape to match his suit jacket, Domingo looked like a Disney prince.
Basketball player Ben Simmons had an on-the-nose take on this year’s theme with a flower on his Thom Browne jacket and a clock on his briefcase. Simmons gets points for trying at least because, as far as I can tell, football player Stefon Diggs didn’t even know about the theme or the dress code.
Actress Ayo Edebiri had a simple but stunning dress made by Loewe.
“I like the flowers that she had going on, but then it fades into a normal dress,” Jacob Wauffle, a junior journalism student, said. “I like the nature aspect of it.”
The frozen flowers at the top of her dress bloomed more towards the bottom. This look is the exact take on the theme and dress code all guests should strive for.
Kylie Jenner may be forever doomed to never pull off a fit at the Met Gala. Boring and barely on theme, words shouldn’t be wasted to describe her underwhelming attire.
Kylie’s sister Kendall had a marginally better outfit, but left much to be desired in terms of dress code. With a family so involved in the fashion industry, one would think the Jenner sisters would dominate the Met Gala with brave adventures into unexplored territories. Of course, they never do.
The earth tones of Actor Barry Keoghan’s Burberry suit paired well with his take on this year’s theme and dress code. The moment the theme was announced, it seemed obvious someone would go the “Alice in Wonderland” route and his execution of a Mad Hatter-inspired outfit was refreshing.
Designer Harris Reed in his own clothing had the best attire out of any of the men. Reed also styled actress Demi Moore, but saved the best look for himself. The shape and depth of his pantsuit was unique among a relatively stagnant collection of men’s suits. The look featured a large headpiece and played on the floral theme. In the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if this look became a keynote in the history of fashion.
Alia Bhatt wore a Sabyasachi saree that immediately made its way into my top three looks of the evening. Her jeweled headpiece was the most beautiful piece of the night, bar none. The saree itself was littered with gems and dotted with details of flowers. A flawless execution in both the theme and dress code.
Last but certainly not least, Zendaya rocked three outfits that would have been the highlight of any other actress’s fashion career. The first look raised imagery of a peacock, using contrasting dark and light colors. The second look was my favorite of the three. She wore all black and a headpiece that turned her head into a bouquet of flowers. The third look, a pink beaded dress, was rather forgettable in comparison to the first two, but in all fairness, they were hard to beat.
“I really liked Zendaya’s makeup and how it went with her full outfit. It looked very fierce,” Avi Hille, a planning, public policy and management student, said.
The first two Zendaya outfits seemed to be a consensus favorite among students.
“I think my favorite theme might’ve been Zendaya,” Holly Berning, a junior business and economics student, said. Berning said both of her looks fit the whimsical and natural theme of the gala.
Zendaya’s stylist Law Roach proves to be at the top of their game once again and is responsible for two of the most talked about Met Gala appearances. However, their own outfit was not as impressive as his client’s — which I’m sure is by design.
For the most part, the women of the Met Gala crushed the theme and dress code this year. But the real winner was Balmain which had a hand in the two best and most innovative dresses of the year. For the men, regroup and come back stronger next time because this was almost certainly not our year.
