After over a year of waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Met Gala took place last week on Sept. 13, and while many celebrities did not disappoint with their fashion, others definitely did.
The Met Gala is an exclusive fundraising event for The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, attended by many of the biggest celebrities. Every year, the gala has a theme in which attendees are supposed to follow.
Some of the previous years’ themes include: 2019’s Camp: Notes of Fashion and 2018’s Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (my personal favorite Met Gala).
This year’s theme was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”. The theme had many attendees channeling American icons or making political statements.
With The Met Gala being known as one of the biggest nights for fashion, let’s take a look at some of the best, and worst, looks of the night.
The Best Outfits
Kendall Jenner easily had one of the most breathtaking looks on the red carpet. Jenner wore a sheer jeweled Givenchy dress, taking an old Hollywood approach to the theme. The dress was inspired by a Givenchy dress Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie “My Fair Lady”. Jenner’s look was both on theme and stunning, putting her at the top of my best dressed category.
Sister duo Chloe and Halle Bailey did not disappoint at their first Met Gala. The sisters both wore Rodarte, with Halle wearing a pink fringe bodysuit, and Chloe wearing white gown with a long train. Halle’s bodysuit was inspired by iconic American singer and actress, Tina Turner, while it appears Chloe took an old Hollywood approach to the theme.
First time Met Gala attendee, Lil Nas X, served three different looks. The rapper wore a Versace ensemble that consisted of a large head-turning gold cape, a golden suit of armor, and a crystal bodysuit covered in Versace’s signature print.
X’s looks were bold and memorable, with the deeper meaning of the artist coming out of his shell these past few years.
Supermodel Iman Abdulmajid had one of the largest, and most beautiful, outfits at the Met Gala.
Iman wore a golden pants suit topped with a gold feathered skirt cage and headpiece designed by Dolce & Gabbana x Harris Reed. The look symbolized “a ray of light after all the darkness we felt,” according to Iman.
Last but not least on my best dressed list is Yara Shahidi. The actress and model wore a beaded Christian Dior gown with matching elbow length gloves and a beaded cap.
Shahidi understood the assignment, paying homage to American fashion icon Josephine Baker with her look. Her dress was inspired by one of Baker’s custom Dior gowns, and she definitely did her justice.
The Worst Outfits
Kim Petras certainly turned heads on the red carpet, but for all the wrong reasons. Petras wore a Collina Strada dress featuring a 3D horse head with a printed skirt. The look very much gave horse girl vibes which is pretty on theme, but was not very flattering and could have been better executed.
Kacey Musgraves also wore an equestrian inspired outfit, but unlike Petras’ it did not garner much attention. Musgraves wore a Ralph Lauren ensemble which consisted of a black top, metallic skirt, and leather riding boots. Musgraves’ look was one of the most bland of the night, and as a country singer she could have done a lot more with the theme.
Madison Beer looked gorgeous as always, but her dress looked like she was running late and stopped at Macy’s prom dress section on her way over. Beer wore a deep green jeweled dress by Patricia Voto.
The dress was inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s look in the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, so at least it was on theme. Overall, it missed the mark and seemed very underwhelming for the Met Gala.
Kim Kardashian made a dramatic entrance in what looked like a Halloween morph suit. Kardashian wore an all black Balenciaga look, which covered her from head to toe.
The outfit looked like a void on the red carpet; If the look was some sort of commentary on the theme, I am not sure anyone got the message.
ASAP Rocky showed up to the Met in… a comforter? The rapper wore a large colorful quilt from ERL’s spring collection. The look did not seem to have any relation to the theme nor was it very fashionable, but hey, at least he was warm and comfortable.
