The 2024 Met Gala kicked off on Monday night, with many celebrities gathering at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to show off their outfits. At the same time, a large number of Internet users flocked to social media to judge the above-mentioned fashion.
The theme of this year’s Met Gala is “The Garden of Time,” echoing the museum’s spring exhibition Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion. While the name naturally conjures up images of fairy tale princesses, the exhibition actually focuses on fashion throughout history.
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“About 250 garments and accessories spanning four centuries will be on display, visually unified through images related to nature, which will serve as a metaphor for the fragility and ephemerality of fashion and serve as a cyclical theme examining rebirth and renewal. Tools,” wrote Metropolis’s description.
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The theme of the evening was particularly inspired by the 1962 short story of the same name by British author JG Ballard. “The Garden of Time” tells the story of an aristocratic couple who use crystal flowers to turn back time and prevent a group of unfortunate people from entering their luxurious villa. Of course, this strategy only works if their garden keeps growing.
Ballard also wrote a story titled “Why I Wanted to Fuck Ronald Reagan,” which will also be a very interesting theme for the Met Gala.
In an unintentional parallel, the “Garden of Time” theme gained further relevance in light of nearby pro-Palestinian protests. During the Met Gala, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through New York, starting at Hunter College, about 1.2 miles away, and heading north to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although the protesters ultimately did not disrupt the party, the idea of a disaffected proletariat heading to a lavish event hosted by the wealthy seems remarkable given the plot of Ballard’s short story.
Photo Credit: Mashable Composite: Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Taylor Hill/Getty Images
The Met Gala’s theme gives designers plenty of room for creativity, whether they’re looking for historical inspiration, alluding to time itself, or relying on tried and true florals. As always, some people are more creative than others.
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Met Gala co-host Zendaya got a double take with her two outfits (not quite Lady Gaga’s four, but still impressive), first wearing John Galliano for Maison Margiela of aquamarine foliage, designed to channel the natural world, before wearing a black vintage Givenchy Haute Couture gown with a bouquet headpiece.
Popular stories that can be mixed and matched
“See this? This is how you dress for a theme. A lot of you should take notes,” said TikTokker @nickycbell.
Look #1
Photo credit: Dimitrios Kabouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum / Vogue
Watch #2
Photo credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Entrepreneur Mona Patel looked glamorous in an Iris Van Herpen gown embellished with dramatic butterflies, while singer Tyla wore a dazzling Balmain dress with hourglass clutch Bag embodies the charm of the sands of time. “That’s what I call dramatic,” TikTokker @marissaspagnoli said of the dress.
Mona Patel
Photo credit: Dimitrios Kabouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum / Vogue
Sydney Sweeney seemed to draw inspiration from flowers and fairy tales, wearing a pale blue Miu Miu ball gown with floral embroidery, while Mindy Kaling’s Gaurav Gupta gown was designed to represent the journey of a plant from bud to wilted bloom. Several attendees, including Elle Fanning and Janelle Monáe, drew direct inspiration from the time-warping crystal flowers in Ballard’s story.
Janelle Monáe, Quanah Chasinghorse and Elle Fanning.
Photo credit: Mashable Composite: Kevin Mazur/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Taylor Hill/Getty Images; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Sidney Sweeney, Alia Bhatt and Kim Kardashian.
Photo credit: Mashable Composite: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; Matt Crosske/PA Photo via Getty Images.
Mindy Kaling
Photo credit: Dimitrios Kabouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum / Vogue
Other designers seem to push the limits of subject matter, like high school art students inventing reasons to do what they want. Model Anok Yai looked stunning in a crystal-encrusted blue Swarovski jumpsuit, but tying it to the theme through the water in the garden felt a bit forced. Doja Cat’s “timeless” white tee is also a pretty unique take on the theme, especially when she added a wet look to it. The orchid inspiration of Sabrina Carpenter’s undeniably incredible Oscar De La Renta dress is also hard to discern.
Doja Cat, Anok Ai and Little Simz
Photo credit: Mashable Composite: Kevin Mazur/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue; John Shearer/WireImage; Gilbert Flores/Getty Images for Variety.
Sabrina Carpenter
Photo credit: John Shearer/WireImage
Although the connection to the subject may be tenuous, these women at least look great. By contrast, onlookers have come to expect that many of the male attendees of the Met’s Charity Ball will have nothing given to them, and this year several did fail to deliver.
Alexander Skarsgård for appearing in Pure black calvin small suitand Jerry Seinfeld’s equally mediocre tuxedo. Hugh Jackman’s Tom Ford look was bland only because he stuck to the period theme, reportedly re-wearing the tuxedo he wore to his first Met Gala 20 years ago.Ed Sheeran’s blue Stella McCartney suit was Liked by X user @georgia_211 “Troy Bolton’s dress from HSM 3 prom scene comes to life.”
Luckily, other men are more interested in their appearance, including fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, actor Jeremy Pope, desaturated chocolate factory owner Barry Keoghan and As X user @keyon said“Fresh off the battlefields of Montague and Capulet” Bad Bunny wears clothing designed by John Galliano for Maison Margiela.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Jeremy Pope and Barry Keoghan
Photo credit: Mashable Composite: Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images; Taylor Hill/Getty Images; Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Raul Lopez, Lil NasX and Troy Sivan
Photo credit: Mike Coppola/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Wisdom Kay, Harris Reed and Gustav Magnal Vitse
Photo credit: Mashable Composite: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images; Taylor Hill/Getty Images; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.
Stray Kids also made their Met Gala debut, becoming the first K-pop group to have all members participate in the event. While their red, white and blue Tommy Hilfiger pieces could definitely be taken up a few notches, all eight came together to create a show-stopping capsule show for the brand. Other designers would be wise to take note.
(LR) Bang Chan, Han, Felix, Seungmin, Hyunjin, IN, Lee Know and Changbin
Photo credit: Kevin Mazur/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Want more Met Gala events? This happened last year.
