NEW YORK ( Associated Press) – Kim Kardashian stunned the Met Gala red carpet on Monday in one of Marilyn Monroe’s most iconic outfits, a gold-beaded body hugger Monroe wore when she posed for President John F. Kennedy 60 years ago. Wished happy birthday.
Kardashian had to lose 16 pounds to fit in the dress, which was designed by Jean Louis and bought by Ripley’s Believe Or Not in 2016! Museum in Orlando, Florida, for $4.81 million.
“It was such a challenge,” she said. “I was determined to fit it in.”
The dress originally cost $12,000. It was so tight that Monroe had to sew “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” at a Madison Square Garden fundraiser on May 19, 1962. She died three months later. It has since become known as the “Happy Birthday, Mr President” dress.
Kardashian, along with her boyfriend Pete Davidson, paired the dress with Cartier white gold drop diamond earrings and a cute short white jacket, which she kept strategically low to cover her back. Her hair was platinum and pulled tightly into a bun.
Earlier, Blake Lively stunned for the cameras in a gorgeous Atelier Versace gown, with husband Ryan Reynolds in brown velvet, Billie Eilish went with a green lace-trimmed dress from Gucci and Cynthia Erivo wore a matching The sheer white Louis Vuitton worn with a headpiece to the Met Gala returned to its berth on the first Monday of May after years of pandemic turmoil.
The celebration of American design was based on gilded glamour, with many dresses in the classic black tailed tuxedo for men and black and white for women. Others paid literal homage to New York City, the home base for the Gilded Age, and still more shimmering in metallic gold and silver.
“Black and white are the colors for the evening,” said Holly Katz, stylist and host of the Fashion Crimes podcast.
One of the evening’s co-hosts, Lively, wore a bronze and rose gold look, which turned into a shimmery layer of baby blue when a large bow was drawn. Her look drew inspiration from the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the blue roof of Grand Central Station.
“Instead of looking for fashion to influence the dress, I looked to the architecture of New York City,” Lively said.
Cardi B, along with Donatella Versace, was an over-the-top gold goddess in a dress of lattice and chainsaws, a fitting birthday present for the designer.
“I wanted to give woman, and Donatella brings woman,” said Cardi, who recently gave birth to a son. The inspiration was a modern Gibson Girl.
Gigi Hadid was more a redefined cat lady than Golden Girl. She wore a tight-as-skin, blood red latex catsuit with a corset bodice and voluminous, heavily quilted coat from Versace. She went up the stairs carelessly.
Meanwhile, Lizzo delighted the crowd when she played her gold flute to fans watching the parade of fashion outside. She wore a black dress by Thom Browne under a stunning gold embroidered black coat.
Camila Cabello worked a voluminous white gown with a midriff top from Prabal Gurung, while theater producer, Jordan Roth, made his own, by ditching a black, egg-like shell for a matching bulbous suit by Thom Browne. provided a disclosure. Janelle Monae offered a royal wave in a slinky gown with a black-and-white glazed helmet piece and headpiece.
New York Mayor Eric Adams has put politics front and center in a tux with “end gun violence.” Former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton was dressed in a Bordeaux-colored gown designed by Joseph Altuzarra with the names of historic women sewn across the hem and neckline. These include Abigail Adams, Shirley Chisolm and Madeleine Albright.
Clinton’s last Met Gala was a while back.
“I told Anna that I would come every 20 years,” she said.
The cast of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” joined forces in Prada’s sparkling suit, cape, and gown. The star of the film, Austin Butler, wore a jeweled brooch with a cropped suit and silk scarf. Luhrmann said that his film is ultimately about America.
Maud Apatow in Miu Miu’s black off-the-shoulder look, accessorised with Cartier, included an elaborate diamond choker.
Vogue livestream co-host Vanessa Hudgens walked the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a fuzzy Victorian black sheer lace gown with a long train by Moschino. She was joined by La La Anthony, her fellow Vogue host, who wore a dark red look with cut shoulders from Laquan Smith.
“I’m practically naked,” joked Hudgens.
Anthony said: “Those stairs are intimidating.”
And if the return of the Met Gala feels like one of them, moment already, it is.
This year’s gala coincides with the opening of the second part of a two-part exhibition at the Costume Institute focused on American fashion and style. The dress code of the evening was gilded glamor and white tie, a la the Gilded Age, a tumultuous period between the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century, which was known for its robber barons, drama and grandeur. .
Some of the stars included extra touches. Gabrielle Union said the red jewelry in her hair to go with her silver Versace outfit represents the blood shed by people of color during the Gilded Age. The dress included a large red floral embellishment at the waist.
Eilish wore a custom Gucci corset look of ivory and Duchess satin with green lace and padded bustle. Erivo’s look came with a big train as she teamed up with Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore a custom Christopher John Rogers, white and black striped Cinderella ballgown with a giant pink and black feather headband by Philip Treacy. There were pieces.
Parker’s dress was inspired by the work of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, the first black female fashion designer in the White House, a confidante of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
Alicia Keys’ Ralph Lauren dress was inspired by her native New York City, with a cape outlining the New York City skyline in tiny hand-held crystals. Her husband, Swizz Beetz, a New Yorker originally, wore a New York sports jacket.
Keys said that her dress was “here tonight to represent the state of an empire and the city of the gods.”
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, appeared alongside his mother, Maye Musk, a former model dressed in Chopard pearls and other jewelry. Her son went with a classic tux with a tail.
Meanwhile, Tessa Thompson chose a bright cotton candy ink tulle Carolina Herrera dress by her side, designer Wes Gordon. He said that his look is made of 200 meters of tulle. Gordon said that Thompson told her that pink was her favorite color and that she took it from there.
Ariana DeBos was resplendent in Golden Moschino by Jeremy Scott.
“This man turned me into a fashion Oscar,” she said.
And the gala included a marriage proposal. Bobby Dizzy Olisa, a former state assembly candidate, got down on one knee to question the city’s cultural affairs commissioner Laurie Kumbo.
What’s the Met Gala without more than one Kardashian, or six. The whole family showed up, including Kylie Jenner in a white ballgown with a matching hat and big sister Kourtney Kardashian showing Thom Browne to go with a Thom Browne suit from Beaux Travis Barker. Kendall Jenner was in black Prada as she played “The Devil and the Angel” alongside Kylie. Sister Khloe Kardashian was in a gold moschino and matriarch Kris Jenner wore canary yellow from Oscar de la Renta, an ode to Jackie Kennedy Onassis—her hair was in a ’60s flip.
Megan Thee Stallion was also a gold goddess. His Moschino Shiner had feathers on his shoulders. Quannah Rose wore a beaded blue strapless gown in partnership with indigenous designer Lenise Omeasoo.
For Gwen Stefani, gilded glamor meant a neon green Vera Wang gown complete with long matching opera gloves and a crop top to go with a flower-adorned ball skirt.
Sans husband Justin Bieber, Hailey Bieber walked in an elegant Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello slip dress with a feather-trimmed coat in white.
Katy Perry, usually a showstopper in the form of cheeseburger and other wacky looks over the years, this time underestimated Oscar de la Renta.
Harper’s Bazaar’s fashion news director Rachel Tashjian said, while many wore European brands, the American vibe remained.
“Many of the best looks were the most straight. For example, Kate Moss in a velvet Le Smoking tuxedo gown, Hailey Bieber in slinky ice-colored silk and marabou feathers. They were both in Saint Laurent, which is definitely not an American brand But the simplicity and directness of his beauty and charm was extraordinary, well patriotic,” she said.
New York-based designer Todd Snyder complimented the night’s many interpretations on the white tie dress code.
“Seeing how people pushed beyond the expected interpretation was refreshing this year. I loved seeing Austin Butler at Custom Prada swapping a classic bow tie for a silk scarf over a cropped tux jacket. Ryan Reynolds And the reggae jean page reminded us of the opulence of a velvet. a tux. While the era was gorgeous from the outside, Riz Ahmed’s statement of wearing workwear to represent the immigrant workers who kept the Gilded Age going, a It is a statement that should not be forgotten.”
Associated Press writers Nardos Hale and John Carucci in New York contributed to this story.
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