The 11 wildest (or mildest) Met Gala looks from this year’s “costume art” extravaganza

The Met Gala hasn’t always been a capital-E Event. The invitation-only gala, which benefits The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, began in 1948 as a fundraiser that marked the Institute’s annual spring fashion exhibition and was attended primarily by high-society museum patrons. In the 1970s, the celebrity friendships and pop-culture savvy of former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland brought fashion-party glitz to the previously staid dinner; starting in 1995, Anna Wintour’s meticulously curated guest lists established it as a gauge of pop-culture relevance whose attendees — actors, athletes, artists and politicians — defined the zeitgeist.

Since then, the Gala itself has become a staple of pop culture, with celebrity co-chairs and a host committee stacked with luminaries, a global viewership that grows exponentially year over year, and a seating chart that has accrued its own body of lore. It also, increasingly, is a site of heavily anticipated controversy and social-media chatter about attendees fumbling the theme, making political statements and occasionally committing cultural sacrilege.

This year’s controversy began when Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos were announced as honorary co-chairs and lead sponsors of the event. The couple’s continuing quest to buy a place atop the high-fashion food chain has led to notable invitees sending their regrets, a guerrilla protest involving bottles of (allegedly fake) urine, and impossible-to-ignore parallels with the plot of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Meanwhile, the night’s theme — “Costume Art” — has onlookers concerned that the Met Gala might be teetering into unintentional self-parody.

But part of the fun of the Met Gala is everything we don’t expect — the looks, the attitudes, the subtext, the possibility of an eat-the-rich jewel heist.

Here are Salon’s hot takes on the hottest looks from the event.

Although Sarah Paulson‘s Met Gala look was railed by Cosmopolitan as being “tone deaf,” her commentary on the 1% was very “almost on the nose, but not quite.” Wearing an eye mask fashioned out of a dollar bill with strategic holes cut in it, so as not to trip over Jeff Bezos, Paulson’s look dared to ask: “In this economy?”

(ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images) Vogue’s Head of Editorial Content Chloe Malle in Colleen Allen

There’s a new Big Bird in town, now that Chloe Malle (AKA, Candice Bergen’s daughter) has taken over as Vogue’s Head of Editorial, but outlets such as Yahoo Entertainment are reporting that Anna Wintour still runs the roost. “Chloe absolutely had to show Anna the dress first,” one source shared. “It was not optional. Nothing gets near that carpet without Anna seeing it first — especially not one of her own editors.” Wintour was reportedly “underwhelmed” by Malle’s selection, but who doesn’t love a showy primary? Any other red carpet, yes, but not Met Gala enough.

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(Mike Coppola / Getty Images) Hunter Schafer in Prada

A nod to Gustav Klimt’s 1912/1913 painting “Mäda Primavesi,” Hunter Schafer‘s Met Gala gown looked like a cup of vanilla soft-serve melted onto a floral-print bedspread, but in typical Schafer fashion, she turned that into something very easy to lap up. “I like this gown but have no idea why,” commented one Salon staffer.

(Mike Coppola / Getty Images) Emma Chamberlain in Mugler

According to Women’s Wear Daily, Emma Chamberlain’s Met Gala dress took 40 hours to paint and four days to dry. Her Mugler dress, created by artist and designer Anna Deller-Yee, nailed the theme of “costume art” in a stunning way. A canvas left out in the rain, given legs on the red carpet. “She makes me rethink my status on vloggers being tried for their crimes,” one of my cohorts commented.

(Matt Crossick / PA Images via Getty Images) Lena Dunham in Valentino

Having recently released her new memoir, “Famesick,” Lena Dunham made her first Met Gala appearance since 2019, wearing a heavy flow of a red feathered dress. In Valentino by Alessandro Michele, they used Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi as inspiration, according to Vogue, and the “Killing of a Sacred Elmo” vibes were in your face, in a good way.

((L) Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for The Met Museum / Vogue; (R) Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images for The Met Museum/ Vogue) Connor Storrie in Saint Laurent

“Heated Rivalry” hottie, Connor Storrie, wore an outfit that looked straight off the rack at your local H&M, but honestly, who cares? He could get it in a Trader Joe’s bag. “I liked what he had as outerwear better; it was very Fashion Monk,” said a Salon staffer.

((L) Theo Wargo / FilmMagic; (R) John Shearer / WireImage) Katy Perry

WE GET IT, KATY, YOU’RE AN ASTRONAUT OR WHATEVER!

(Photo by Michael Loccisano / GA / The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images) Heidi Klum

[Screams]

“She looks like she clawed her way out of the rubble in Pompeii, but I respect the lack of vanity,” A coworker with a design background said of Heidi Klum‘s Met Gala look, which paid homage to the 1847 sculpture by Raffaelle Monti, the Veiled Vestal.

(ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images) Olivia Wilde in Thom Browne

“Smart to bring a sturdy wicker chair for a venue with notoriously limited seating,” one of us quipped upon seeing Olivia Wilde’s “do I have something on my dress” look.

((L) ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images, (R) Photo by Kevin Mazur / MG26) Lauren Sánchez Bezos in Schiaparelli

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(Photo by Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images) (L-R) Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor

And at the end of the night, here comes Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor to honk twice, open the passenger door, and swoop you off to get some burgers and fries.