In this week’s handle with care, the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) announcement!
The Met Gala is famously held on the first Monday in May, and this year it landed perfectly on May 1. The exhibition at the Met Museum’s Costume Institute is “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” and the dress code for the gala was “in honor of Karl.”
So! That meant a lot of Chanel, Fendi, and other fashion houses that the German designer worked for, not to mention his own brand, would be worn. Theming the event around Lagerfeld came with some qualms because of past fatphobic, racist, and misogynistic comments he’s made before his death in 2019. And while many other talented designers have passed away — Virgil Abloh, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, and Paco Rabbane — Lagerfeld was honored.
Overall, celebrities wore a lot of black and white, with some pops of color. There were direct references to Lagerfeld and his cat Choupette, plus pearl-encrusted accessories. I thought it was fine; nothing too exciting, but not awful. We need a fun theme for next year!! With that, here are some looks I enjoyed:
My best dressed for this year is Anne Hathaway! I love how much fun she’s having in her Versace era, and she looked incredible in her white tweed dress, inspired by Chanel’s tweed looks. It’s fastened with gold safety pins that have pearls on them, and there are zippers at the bottom. She won, why lie? She also had the superior coronation, BTW.
Doja Cat is always on the nose, like, she can never disappoint me on a red carpet. She wins the best Choupette outfit! She definitely beat Jared Leto in a landslide. She wore prosthetics on her face to actually look like a cat. Her white Oscar de la Renta gown has an attached hood with cat ears, and I loved the straps that allow it to be backless.
I also loved Jenna Ortega’s Thom Browne look; I need the bolero right now. I enjoyed the whole Thom Browne group TBH. Janelle Monae won the Lady Gaga Met Gala Transformation Award, also beating Jared Leto in a landslide.
Bad Bunny was one of the best dressed men (more on that later), in his white Jacquemus suit and floral stole. His look was backless! Nicole Kidman was an early favorite of mine, and then I learned that her pale pink Chanel gown is the same one she wore in her 2005 Chanel No. 5 commercial (dir. Baz Luhrmann). And I know Keith Urban is in the photo, but we can ignore him except when “That’s When (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is on.
Olympic athlete Eileen Gu wore a wine-stained dress by Robert Wun, and not only does it reference my favorite Taylor Swift song, I was pleased to see it. (I also loved Tems’ Robert Wun look!) Phoebe Bridgers’ Tory Burch gown was also a favorite, with one Twitter user calling her “that one girl at junior prom who don’t play about Tumblr.” And I love it! Model Anok Yai looked like a doll in her Prabal Gurung mini dress. I don’t care if she is or isn’t on theme, because she looks GOOD.
Pedro Pascal’s little Valentino shorts got me immediately! His black and red outfit, complete with black lace-up boots was an example of good and interesting menswear. Brian Tyree Henry’s outfit is from Lagerfeld’s own brand, and it was one of the first looks I saw and immediately liked. The voluminous black coat adds so much to it.
Tay Updates!!
It’s happening:
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is officially on her way! Taylor Swift announced it at her concert in Nashville on Friday, the 13th show on The Eras Tour. It’s set to be released on July 7, right before “Last Kiss” day.
The Sun reported that Swift has moved on from Joe Alwyn, to The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy. He went to her Nashville show this weekend, among other things, but I want better for her. I am choosing to not see it :)
Hi, thanks for reading! Sorry this is short and late, but I caught a cold this week, and then I got a kitten! I was working on getting this sent when she woke up from her nap, and just got time to finish it up. Her name is Mitzi (named after the Animal Crossing character), and she’s so teeny and cute. Our family dog is being so good with her too. I’ll add pictures in a future newsletter! See you next week!