As anyone who has ever been invited to a “smart casual” event knows, it is the worst possible dress code. It is literally the opposite of a dress code. It is two words that signify only that the next few weeks of your life will be lost to a deluge of group texts.
Some years, similarly, it feels as though the dress code for the Met Ball is not as self-evident as it should be given that it is “Ball,” and that it is also sometimes referred to as a “Gala” — with a capital G that should also signify Gown. This year, the looks ranged more widely than ever. And, resultingly, produced some of the most major fashion moments yet. On a scale of casual to smart they ran from Beyoncé’s near-nudity (off the chart!) to Constance Jablonski’s sliders (casual) to Grace Coddington’s silk pajamas (actually is this the perfect interpretation of “smart casual”?), to Chloë Sev’s J.W. Anderson (styled by Haley Wollens and smart in both senses), to the glorious golden sea of perfection that was Rihanna’s Guo Pei coat and that was so far off the chart there are no words except “iconic.”
In every sense, it was a Met Ball of extremes. Extremes and also homages. Kim K. wore a feathery Peter Dundas for Roberto Cavalli gown that she chalked up to a picture of Cher at the first-ever Met Ball (and which others pointed out bore a striking resemblance to Beyonce’s Givenchy dress from 2012). The Beibs wore a Michael Jackson-esque embroidered number. And others played it literal and traditional and opted for patterned silks that nodded to the theme of this year’s exhibition, China: Through the Looking Glass.
But the real wildcards of 2015? i-D cover girl FKA Twigs (with soon-to-be-Mr. Twigs Robert Pattinson) in Christopher Kane — unexpected but so right. Cara Delevingne, who not only rocked some maj body tats but also proceeded to flip off the cameras (a reaction to this year’s anti-selfie policy maybe). And Solange, who wore the only thing that could make more of a statement than what went down last year: a glitch in the space-time continuum (actually a kind of fantastic pleated intergalactic-print Giles situation). Moments before hitting the red carpet, she summed up the vibe of the evening perfectly, tweeting, “It’s just f***ing fashion. Have fun. Take risks. But mostly, have fun. : )”
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson