One of the biggest nights in fashion, the Met Gala, is almost here, and I have my favorite diary and a set of sparkle pens ready to evaluate the best and worst-dressed celebrities at this year’s event. Just for the record, I am by no means a fashionista. I dress in blacks, browns, and blues, have my hair up in a bun or a claw clip most of the time, and own just a reasonable number of classic/boring footwear. I am also as unversed with the jargon of the fashion industry (can’t even differentiate between two shades of pink or tell two fabrics apart) as any commentator on the internet. But hey! I absolutely adore the Met Gala festivities because I’m just a gurllll!
While the Met Gala, positively deemed as the Oscars of Fashion, is held each year to serve a greater purpose, namely to raise funds for the museum’s Costume Institute, I’m always more excited to see how dutifully the handful of selected A-List celebrities do justice to the Gala’s theme via their choice of outfits (Insert Blake Lively’s 2022 Statue of Liberty dress) or how poorly they flunk it (It’s understandable why attendees, more often than not, struggle with the annual Met theme, as it can be challenging to interpret).
A million-dollar-worth question here, though, is: does mine, or yours, or any of the general public’s opinion on the Met Gala truly matter? The only acceptable answer that I could wrap my head around is YES! A 100%. And here’s why!
Why Does Public Opinion Matter for the Met Gala?
Public opinion on the Met Gala matters because it’s what keeps the event buzzing and relevant. Who else are the celebrities getting dressed for if not for the public eye? Think of it as a big, fancy party that everyone’s talking about. When people share their thoughts on social media and set a collective virtual countdown leading to the main event, it adds to the excitement and makes the event feel more inclusive.
Also, let’s not forget the fact that the party is not just about dressing pretty and aligning with the theme. The Met Gala is a charity event, so the more chatter and attention it gets from the public, the more it pushes the elites to donate money to the cause. Therefore, even if we are not breathing the same air as Rihanna, Blake Lively, or any of Anna Wintour-approved celebrities for that matter, our opinions still matter.
In summary, if the public, in all modesty, stopped being fashion pundits for the event, the Met Gala would not be half the cultural phenomenon that it is today.
Met Gala 2024 — Theme explored ahead of the soon-to-be-commencing Met Ball
In November last year, Vogue announced the theme for The Costume Institute’s 2024 exhibition to be Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, and I cannot wait to see what the selected celebrities have in store for us. The official dress code this year is The Garden of Time, so we will likely witness a lot of floral and botanical inspirations, in an ode to mother nature. It’s also entirely possible to see outfits giving a nod to the 1959 Disney movie Sleeping Beauty.
There’s so much to anticipate in the hours ahead. I wish I were in New York, preferably at the MET steps, covering the event, rather than at my apartment, ensuring I have everything I need to entertain myself when the big night unfolds.
