NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Lively smiled for the cameras in a grand Versace gown, with husband Ryan Reynolds in velvet, as the Met Gala returned to the first Monday in May after years of pandemic upheaval with a celebration of American design and a theme of gilded glamour.
The actress, one of the evening’s co-hosts, wore a bronze and rose gold look that transformed into a shimmery layer of baby blue as a large bow was pulled. Lively’s look drew inspiration from both the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the blue ceiling of Grand Central Station.
“Instead of looking to fashion to influence the dress, I looked to New York City architecture,” Lively said.
Some among early walkers interpreted the period theme in looks of black or white. Others went with royal purples and glittery golds and silvers.
“Black and white are THE colors for the evening,” said Holly Katz, a stylist and host of the Fashion Crimes podcast.
Jordan Roth, the theater producer, provided a reveal of his own, removing a black, egg-like shell to a matching bulbous pants suit. Janelle Monae offered a royal wave in a black and white bedazzled helmet piece and slinky gown with head piece.
“Amazing. I’m proud to be American. I’m proud to be wearing Ralph Lauren. This is gilded glamour from the future,” Monae told The Associated Press.
The cast of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” joined forces in sparkling suits, capes and gowns from Prada. The film’s star, Austin Butler, wore a cropped suit and silk scarf with a jeweled brooch. Luhrmann said his film is, ultimately, about America.
Vogue livestream co-host Vanessa Hudgens made her way up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a vaguely Victorian black sheer lace gown with a long train. She was joined by La La Anthony, her fellow Vogue host who wore a deep red look with cut out shoulders from LaQuan Smith.
“I’m practically naked,” Hudgens joked.
Anthony said: “Those stairs are intimidating.”
And if the Met Gala’s return feels like one of those what, already moments, it is.
More than $16.4 million was raised last year. The starry event is the institute’s primary budget feeder.
This year’s gala coincides with the opening of the second part of a two-part exhibit at the Costume Institute focused on American fashion and style. The evening’s dress code is gilded glamour and white tie, a la the Gilded Age, that tumultuous period between the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century known for its robber barons, drama and grandeur.
The cost for a seat at last year’s Met Gala started at $35,000, though some attend for free. Celebrities are sometimes accompanied (and their tabs paid) by the designers who dress them or other companies that invite them. A focus on inclusivity in fashion this year may celebrate and include more unsung designer heroes than usual.
The event is the invention of the late Eleanor Lambert, a fashion publicist as powerful as Wintour in her day. In 1948, she needed to come up with a way to pay for the newly formed Costume Institute, the only department at the Met that must raise its own funds.
Associated Press writers Nardos Haile and John Carucci in New York contributed to this story.
