The Met Gala has once again delivered a glittering referendum on the state of fashion, fame, and cultural cachet. Which celebrities are deemed invite-worthy, and which are cut from appearing at the last minute? Who treats the annual theme as a jumping-off point for sartorial experimentation, and who stays safe in a black dress that’d fit in on any carpet?
The first Monday in May has also become a kind of fish bowl for our new Gilded Age, in which the extraordinarily wealthy cavort from hotel room to carpet to after party while the rest of us watch from our phones. Last year, the gala raised $31 million dollars for the Met’s Costume Institute by charging a neat $100,000 for a ticket. This year, the sponsorship of itinerant billionaire Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, has added a whole new tenor to the event that its relatively innocuous dress code, “Fashion Is Art,” can’t quite mask. (Bezos first sponsored the gala in 2012; a lot has changed over the past 14 years, including his aesthetic.)
We called up some of our funniest, most sartorially steeped friends to weigh in on this year’s looks: Who served? Who surprised? And does it really matter if it was on theme or not?

Gabrielle Richardson, model and gallerist
“Zoë Kravitz wears the same thing she wears every year, but also is so hot that it’s okay and I love it. Emma Chamberlain in a hand-painted Mugler gown may be the only one on theme, I guess.
We need more color. The theme is about art. Everyone is in a monochromatic [look]. I’m obsessed with Chase Infiniti’s look, and I’m obsessed with Emma Chamberlain’s. And you know what? I’m a bit of a gray-beige girl. I’m not gonna pretend that I’m not. But when we’re talking about the theme being art, we need a little color. We’ve got Amy Sherald on the host committee. Let’s give a little love to the paints.”
Tina Zhang, writer and critic
“The first thing I said was: is Troye Sivan wearing jeans to the Met Gala? The second thing was: he looks exactly like a young Mapplethorpe. Sivan’s reference to Mapplethorpe’s ‘body as a self portrait’ is clever and fitting, and I adore the Prada-fied homage. My only note is that he’s missing a crab claw necklace.
I have been waiting for a Naomi Osaka comeback story, and tonight she brought it in Robert Wun Couture. Those whimsical red feathers sprouting from her coat were divine enough and then she unveiled that glittering dress and matching opera gloves… exquisite.
Ms. Emma Chamberlain, I was not familiar with your game. While technically a veteran of these steps, Emma’s custom Mugler stopped me in my tracks. The way her dress looks like it’s covered in thick, swirling oil paints down to that dark, decaying train is an Impressionist’s fever dream.”

Michael Cuby, writer
“After being adopted into the exclusive cult of Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent, Connor Storrie had sky-high expectations heading into tonight’s Met Gala, thanks to YSL’s hosting duties. Luckily, his look, a slightly oversized black suit worn with a silk polka-dot pussybow blouse, was the perfect mix of French sex and gay sleaze. The long pussybow turning into a surprise train once it hits the wind was perfect for a red carpet ‘moment,’ but it was the surprise reveal of a sleeveless blouse underneath that really got the crowd going. After all, what good is all that time spent in the gym if you can’t flex those perfectly sculpted biceps when the cameras start flashing?
For much of her One Battle After Another awards run, Chase Infiniti was bedecked in Louis Vuitton (for better and for worse). But for her first strut down the Met Gala red carpet, the rising star looked to Thom Browne to craft a custom dress that blew everything she’d previously worn completely out of the water. A deceptively simple silhouette offset by eye-grabbing embroidery for the perfect trompe-l’œil effect, the look was an ideal interpretation of the theme, giving the illusion of a ‘body’ while also feeling like a piece of art in and of itself. And don’t get me started on that gorgeous, diva-ready hair. Nothing gets me going like a huge ‘do.”

Mackenzie Thomas, writer
“Okay: love the girl. Like everyone else in America, I have been so inspired by Alysa Liu. She’s fucking incredible. She’s amazing. But she looks a damn mess tonight. She looks prom. She looks quinceañera. I have to make up a name. She looks like Missy Magoo. I feel like she has such a cool look, but her team is afraid to let her tap into being punk. It looks like Toddlers in Tiaras. Cupcake, sweetheart. It needs to end. Give the girl some fishnets, please. A metallic eyeshadow. She is a hero, but even heroes look a damn mess sometimes, and I’m looking at it.
I actually really like what Troye Sivan is wearing. I think wearing jeans to the Met Gala is really bold. But then I thought deeper about why I liked what Troye Sivan was wearing, and it’s because he looks exactly like La Roux, the singer that sang Bulletproof, and I miss her. I just like Troye Sivan’s outfit because there’s a gap in my heart for La Roux… I miss her.
Hahaha no, Ben Platt no, absolutely not. It’s not like I was looking for Ben Platt to be the epitome of high fashion today, but yet I am still shocked. Absolutely disgusting, and those are the nicest words I have to say about his suit. Absolutely disgusting and vile. Absolutely not.”
Ira Madison III, writer
“Once again, I am asking, is Law Roach trolling us? Is he scamming Lauren Sánchez Bezos? Because what is going on here. She looks like [she’s wearing] a bottom three, Project Runway, Mother of the Bride dress. It’s not giving. How do you give a speech about Anna Wintour and art as fashion earlier this morning, and then step out wearing this. Did the real dress get lost. Is this shipped in Amazon? Is this supporting her husband’s business? I got a lot of questions, and I don’t really care for the answers.
Someone, please free my man Connor [Storrie] from YSL. It’s really not giving, for me personally, and it doesn’t seem to be giving to the Internet either. It’s giving Kristen Stewart when she was held prisoner by Chanel, and that time Margot Robbie was unfortunately locked up like Princess Peach. This man is too fine to be running around in some long fuck-ass scarf. What are we doing? In the suit. He’s so hot—fix it.
Naomi Osaka is game, set, match. My favorite look of the night, absolutely.”

RelaxItsOnlyFashion, fashion critic
“Loved Lena Dunham in Valentino—fiery, playful, and she looked hot. Jisoo in Christian Dior and Cartier was my favorite styling. The dress is beautiful, but the hair, makeup, and jewelry brought it all together.
I had déjà-vu seeing Rihanna in Margiela. Audrey Nuna just wore a similar Margiela look to the Vanity Fair afterparty. She was my biggest disappointment.”
Ezra J. William, entrepreneur and fashion commentator
“Emma Chamberlain in custom Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas reads like a walking painting, fluid and expressive in motion. It subtly nods to Mugler’s 1997 legacy, reimagined through a softer, more contemporary lens.
Sabine Getty in custom Ashi Studio feels more like a sculpture than a dress. It fits the theme perfectly—fashion, at its best, is art. Kylie Jenner in Schiaparelli turns the body into the statement, sculpted and deliberate. It feels sensual and performative, suspended somewhere between wearing and shedding.”

Hillary Taymour, designer, Collina Strada
“We just saw Connor Storrie inside. He looks fab. Honestly, he’s hard. He just looks elegant. It’s so Saint Laurent, but it’s so him, and I’m very into it. Paloma is glowing in her dress. It looks better in person than I’m sure it does in photos. The work is so intricate, and Francesco Risso did such an amazing job. Katy Perry looks really fab in the Stella McCartney mask. It has burn marks on the back and a train. So fab. The silhouette is silhouette-ing.”
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