You may be wondering about the title of this blog post. Well, you see, for style enthusiasts like myself, May is a time not only for the summer to start over Memorial Day, but it marks the biggest day in fashion- The First Monday in May. The First Monday in May is known by style aficionados who live to see their favorite celebrities on the red carpet. What’s the occasion? Why, the Met Gala, of course. The Met Gala is one of the largest celebrated red carpets of the year. The Gala is a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute and marks the opening of the yearly exhibit at the Met, sponsored by Condé Nast- Vogue, the Costume Institute, and a guest designer- this year’s designer is Versace. Each year the theme of the gala is the theme of the exhibit, and the celebs show up in amazing gowns and fashion forward designs. This year the theme is Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.
The Rodarte dresses at the Heavenly Bodies Met Exhibit. Photo by JRH Graphics.
The gala is a celebration of fashion and art, and is some of the best avant—garde fashion you will ever see, all to benefit the Met’s Costume Institute. The guest list is tight and exclusive- I.e. you have to be somebody to get an invite, and even if you want to buy a ticket (think $30k and higher), it’s still only offered to the elite. The event is held at the Met Fifth Ave and the red carpet is on the main stairs to the entrance of the Met. The gala then takes place in the museum and very little is shown from the party as it’s so exclusive. I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall at this year’s Met Gala. This past Friday I went to NYC for the day. I went to see a good friend, Chloe of My Life Living Abroad, who was visiting NYC from Paris and I wanted to see her, plus I’ll take any excuse to get to NYC. Since the Heavenly Bodies exhibit JUST opened the day before, I decided to get tickets and go see the exhibit as I’d never seen a Met Costume Institute exhibit. To accompany me, Jonathan of JRH Graphics came down from upstate NY to experience the exhibit too.
We got to the Met early at 9:15am to guarantee our spots in line. We both had purchased tickets online in advance- which I recommend doing. Around 9:30am the Met stairs started to become crowded and tour buses started pulling up by the masses. We got in line and waited until the doors opened at 10am. Upon entrance at 10am, we raced inside to try to get the first view of the exhibit. The exhibit was stunning. It’s comprised of three rooms and spans over 58,000 square feet. It got chills numerous times and I almost cried once so moved by the creativity and beauty of the exhibit. Out of this world fashion creations curated the floors and the inspiration of the creations was what I loved reading about the most. The exhibit is designed as if you are entering a church- complete with a choir on the back wall- a touch that was on of my favorite parts of the exhibit. Big name designers Versace, Thierry Mugler, Dolce and Gababba, Alexander McQueen, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent, to name a few, grace the display with their creations all inspired by Catholicism. To add to the experience, angelic music is playing throughout.
I could go on and on about the display, but my words will only mean so much. You truly have to see it in person or through photos to truly understand how I felt. This thought it what inspired todays Second Monday in May Heavenly Bodies Photo Diary, in hopes that it will inspire you to see this mesmerizing display of Catholicism and fashion, first hand.
This was my favorite dress from the exhibit! Dress by designer Thierry Mugler.
If you do go to see the exhibit- buy advance tickets online and arrive early. When we left around 11:30, the entire museum was jam packed, so the earlier you arrive, the better.
XOXO Blonde in the District