Can we talk about the overwhelming amount of people who wore Iris Van Herpen? There's no doubt the dresses are spectacular, but they don't really fit the theme at all!
But in all fairness, mostly everyone who attended did not even try to understand the theme. It felt like they were given the last Met Gala theme by mistake...
The theme was so broad, that even had guests been strictly adhering to it, it would still have been all over the map. Do they just wear an American designer? Do they nod to iconic looks from America's past - flapper, old Hollywood, Old West, 1960s, etc.? do they celebrate America's diversity by wearing a look from a minority designer? Do they just try and choose a look that represents the spirit of America in a more abstract way? Do they wear an American flag inspired look? I think most attendees seemed to fall into one of these categories, but it was so broad it would be very hard for an outside observer to see a lineup and guess the theme. I also think the social media coverage of the Met has skyrocketed recently and celebs and stylists see that going over the top will net them more attention, I suspect it'll feel a bit like "Camp" going forward for that reason. I think it will be a great and illuminating exhibit, but it didn't make for a cohesive red (or beige) carpet theme. Which is fine, it's not actually about that, I suppose.
Another factor, I think, is that people don't want to risk going the obvious route, and as a result there were some classics left out entirely. I wanted to badly for someone to show up in a killer 90s Calvin Klein look, a vintage Halston, lots of Ralph Lauren, etc. Instead we get half the attendees wearing Balenciaga and Valentino (some of which I loved).
Re: Iris van Herpen, I thought some of her looks were the most interesting interpretations of the theme. Gabrielle talked about how she chose a dress that gave the illusion of movement, because to her America is all about constantly moving forward. Kind of a loose interpretation, but at least she had a thoughtful answer whereas most kind of just shrugged the question off or provided a super generic answer. Grimes in her
Dune look with a sword made out of an AR-15 was also a thoughtful, humorous, and unique take on the theme, which I appreciated much more than the super literal ones I saw (looking at you, Megan Rapinoe).
