Fun & Famous

THE MET GALA IN NEW YORK

The people, the looks, and our unsolicited (and unfiltered) opinion

I couldn't be further removed from the allure of the Met Gala at this moment. In a beach house (where I actually should be wearing this but what I'm not doing) stripped of any form of luxury and already wearing the same sweatpants for the third day. By the way, they are quite nice and there are also Chanel espadrilles (see?) in the closet, but comfort ranks much higher on the priority list than ‘Manus x Machina’, which was the dress code of the Met Gala.

Yes, that's something different than ‘all white with a touch of red’ or ‘come as you are’. Here, the lucky guests and their stylists had their fashion brains working for months, but yesterday the moment was there. This morning I was able to cast my votes on Vogue.com (a delightful task to do between meetings) where you can choose from three boxes for each look: elegant, original, and daring.

Because I missed my own criteria a bit, I’m giving my unsolicited and unfiltered opinion (in sweatpants and a navy sweater).

The airheads

Not that Sienna Miller, Lauren Bush, and Alexa Chung looked ugly, but come on guys, this is the Met Gala. Here the motto is ‘more is definitely too little’, here trends are born, here you write fashion history. I didn't expect much more from Lauren Bush, but from Sienna... Come on. You look like you're going to a charity evening with the rich elderly in Florida. And Alexa, you were in and with Thakoon, you are young and pioneering. So why such a suit?

Picture of the teacher (and eternal fame)

As I scroll through that guest list and then see our (yes, our, yes) Doutzen in Balmain... This just shows that you don't need a neckline down to your pubic bone or a slit up to your underwear to be ultra-sexy. Covered from collarbone to little toe (okay, with three peek-a-boo cutouts around the waist), her hair casually down and the most natural makeup of the evening. Class and allure and truly our most beautiful business card.

Katy Perry, come on, add another meter of train. Or, since we're at it, just attach ten meters. And fringes, lots of fringes. Katy Perry finds ‘over the top’ way too boring. And the fact that she appeared on many worst dressed lists last year with her Met Gala outfit didn't make her choose the ‘safe’ option this time. No way, everything out of the closet and that's exactly how we like to see it from a star.

Then a round of applause, elephants from the left, ballerinas from the right, and a glitter cannon for Gigi and Bella Hadid. Gigi, of course, in Tommy Hilfiger with whom she created her own line. The prettiest and coolest girls at the party who are always perfectly dressed according to the dress code.

Karolina Kurkova also looked stunning in her Marchesa dress. The front slightly shorter than the back, allowing us to see her slender calves beautifully, beautifully sheer and embroidered in 3D. Slender top and further simple makeup and an easy does it bun. Good wine needs no bush.

Lastly, my love Sarah Jessica Parker. The makeup, oh well, it might have been a bit too heavy around the eyes making her look a bit small and pinched. But I bet today a thousand women will run to the hairdresser with a screenshot of Sarah and order ‘that hair’. That hair. Furthermore, a subdued but still cool outfit, lovely Carrie shoes, nice bag. Just a picture of the teacher. Nothing more to do, except ask Doutzen's makeup artist for next year.

Shoot the stylist (and buy a mirror)

Dear Madonna, what have we learned from Coco Chanel? Before you leave the house, always take one thing off? Did you forget that? I know you can go all out here, but it all needs to fit together a bit and, I'm sorry to say, it doesn't do you any favors.

And then there's Emma Watson. It's not really dramatic, but I get the feeling that she and the designer found it a bit boring and then decided to just sew on three meters of train. Or not?

The outliers

Kim, it's of course too tight, too silver, too shiny, too slit, too everything. But you know, I wouldn't have expected anything else from you and I wouldn't have wanted anything else. You're my delightful guilty pleasure so keep that stylist around for a bit longer.

I had to look twice to see who that bizarrely dressed woman in fishnets, platform heels, and corset was and I had all sorts of thoughts about it. Until I saw that it was Lady Gaga in Atelier Versace and then I saw that it was good.