- Hello my beautiful doves. My name is Mina, and
today we're gonna be doing our annual Met Gala costume review. So I've never been invited
to the Met Gala sadly, but it is the one event
that all fashion people look forward to every year, because it's like our Super Bowl. You know, there's a lot
of surprise in there because people don't share
what they're gonna wear before they go. We don't even know who's going, because the guest list isn't publicized until the actual event. And also what's not to love
about a themed costume party. It's the event where we
either foam at the mouth because we see something so
immaculate and so amazing on the red carpet, like Zendaya in 2018, or we take to Twitter and write
our little scathing reviews in our pajamas from the
comfort of our own home. - Who's like your inspo, if you had to name one
thing or one person? - Oh my gosh, I love that
like classic Hollywood look- - Of course.
- That's what I'm trying to go for. - Why, why, why, why, why? - Both of them are equally fun endeavors. (soft upbeat music) Just a quick history blurb of the Met Gala for anyone who doesn't know the Met Gala is essentially a fundraiser to raise money for the
Met's Costume Institute. To give an idea of how profitable this event is. Last year, it raised over
16.4 million dollars. Since 2005, the event has
traditionally been held every 1st May, every first Monday of May, every year. Last year we got a September Met Gala, but that was because
of COVID postponements. It was like not a traditional thing. From now on and moving forward, I'm assuming it's just
gonna be May, May, May, May. The Met Gala was founded in 1948 and its origins weren't as
prestigious as it is today. You had to be a member of high society or in the fashion industry, of course, but the Met Gala, I believe it wasn't
even called the Met Gala was like the New York costume
ball or something like that. Anyways, this event
was just like any other annual charitable
benefit in New York city. When Diana Vreeland,
the former EIC of Vogue became consultant in 1972, that's when the Met Gala
became a themed costume event. She also started inviting
prominent celebrities like Elton John, Madonna, Diana Ross, which added to the Met Gala star power and overall cultural
relevance among wider society. Last year's theme was in
America A Lexicon of Fashion, which is based on a two part exhibition in America and anthology of fashion. According to the costume institute's, head curator Andrew Bolton, the exhibition which is presented across 13 of the American
period rooms in the museum provides a historical
context for Lexicon in a way. The stories really reflect the
evolution of American style, but they also explore the
work of individual tailors, dress-makers and designers. What's exciting for me
is that some of the names will be very familiar
to students of fashion like Charles James, Halston
and Oscar de la Renta. But a lot of the other names really have been forgotten,
overlooked or relegated into the footnotes of fashion history. So one of the main
intentions of the exhibition is to spotlight the talents and contributions of these individuals and many of them are women. This year's Met Gala is based on the second
installment of the exhibition and the dress code for the event is white tie and gilded glamor. White tie indicates the standard of dress for formal events back in the day. Nowadays, I think people
assume that black tie, which indicates a tuxedo
is the most formal event in America, but white tie is superior. According to the Berg
Companion to Fashion, the luxe de luxe of
formal wear is white-tie an ensemble that includes
tails wing-collared shirt, hand-tied white bow ties, usually in cotton pique or fine grosgrain and corresponding white waist coats, traditionally three buttoned and cut low to expose maximum shirt front. For the feet, nothing but glacé, glossy pumps will suffice, topped off with a pair
of silk, decorative bows. And at the other end of the body, a top hat in glossy black
silk is the point finale. For women, the white tie standard of dress was a full length ball
gown and evening gloves. Gilded glamour refers to the Gilded Age, which according to Vogue
stretches from 1870 to 1890s. But I was reading the book "Twentieth-Century American Fashion" which actually notes that
the era ended in 1914. Either way, everyone can
agree that the Giled Age was an era of opulence,
excess, luxury, grandeur for the upper echelons of society. And no Marie Antoinette was
not part of the Gilded Age and neither was Bridgerton. The Rococo period was in the 1700's and the Regency era was in the 1810s. So please remove the Vivienne Westwood's
portrait collection corset from your Gilded Age mood boards ladies. The Gilded Age was a period
of rapid change in America, industrialization, immigration
and economic growth. And this change insighted a power struggle between the nouveau riche
AKA the new money people who were getting wealthy because of their growing businesses. Think the Vanderbilts and the Astors and the old money AKA
established people in America who had inherited generations of wealth. Coincidentally, HBO released
a new series earlier this year called "The Gilded Age." I only watched one episode so far, but the series is all
about this power struggle between the classes during the 1880s. The show is pretty visually spectacular in terms of set design. I love the Russell's opulate mansion and it's pretty accurate
with its costumes too. Again, I've only seen one episode, so maybe it goes absolutely
bonkers later on, but I recommend it for anyone
interested in the time period. And the reason I've
only watched one episode is not because I think it's
uninteresting or anything, but mainly because I don't have time. Okay, so let's get into the looks because I know you're
all dying, dying for it. - Do you want it? - I don't want it-
- 'Cause you're asking for it. You're dying for it. - First, let's talk about Amy Schumer. What annoys me a lot about Amy Schumer is, okay, like I don't think
we have a very similar sense of humor at all, but just like on a base level, it annoys me that she has
talked shit about the Met Gala so many times for years now. And she still keeps going. In 2016, she told Howard Stern "I figured I should have been grateful I was invited or something,
but it felt like a punishment. It's not me and I don't like it, we're dressed up like a
bunch of fucking assholes. I have no interest in fashion, I like the idea of coming up with a way to
dress that's more comfortable, that sounds good to me. Other than that, I don't care." There's a lot of reasons
to not like the Met Gala, but if you actually don't like it, then why do you keep going? Like, it just seems very
performative and fake, and like, I'm just not
like the other girls for her to be taking this attitude. And even, I don't know, just
like looking at the photos and like the interviews
of her at the event, it's clear she does not give a fuck. And I'm like, why are you there, why? Anyways, let's talk about the outfit. She looks like a Severus
Snape meets the Penguin meets the Matrix, meets three kids sitting
on each other's shoulders in a trench coat. Look, I can appreciate when a woman goes for a men's wear moment, but the fit of this and
the way that it's styled is just extremely
unflattering and very strange. Billie Eilish, okay Billie
Eilish killed this look. This is probably one of my
favorite looks of the night. She's wearing a champagne
colored Gucci dress that has this really nice corset bodice. She's also wearing green
lace fingerless gloves. It's totally on theme, it looks very 1880s with this pronounced V bodice line and the (indistinct) around the hips. Also, I think someone on Twitter
even found like an image, a portrait of a woman who's literally wearing
a very similar dress from "The Gilded Age." So I appreciate the attention to detail to historical detail. I also really love the
subtle champagne color, which is a less popular and therefore I think
more memorable choice to all the gold and
silver on the red carpet. Also obsessed with the velvet choker, which was a personal favorite
accessory of Queen Victoria. My only little nitpick is that the champagne color
of the bodice and the skirt look a little mismatched and her green sleeves also are not the exact shade of green as the one in her corset. If it all matched this
would've been like immaculate and also just like a personal preference I wish they did a darker
color for the flower like in the portrait that people dug up because I think it would've
just been a nicer color balance than to have everything pastel. I also super appreciate that the dress is made
of recycled materials. - Well, this is Gucci and it
is all existing materials. So we didn't, you know, have
to waste a bunch of stuff. This is all already existed and just wanted to like be kind of as, I don't know, eco-friendly as possible- - Totally. - And then, this is all vintage jewelry. So like nothing-
- Gorgeous. - Was wasted and stuff. - Like please let's normalize the concept of creating beautiful garments without creating excess waste. So Blake Lively is wearing Versace her dress is made of tulle and it's embroidered with
crystals and metallic leather to mimic the Empire State Building. The train on the dress
depicts the celestial map that decorates the ceiling of Grand Central station in Manhattan. I know this is gonna be
a polarizing opinion, but I was honestly not
a big fan of this dress. Don't get me wrong I think
it's an amazing tribute. I think it's very well thought out. I think she's very on theme I love a transition moment. The copper to green also represents the oxidation
of the Statue of Liberty. So I totally think that conceptually, this dress is amazing. For reference, the Statue of Liberty was completed during the Gilded Age and Grand Central station even though I believe it
was founded in the 1910s, it was built upon a preexisting
station which existed, or which was founded in the 1870s. So everything, everything says
Gilded Age okay, point blank. But I just don't love it
on an aesthetic level. I feel like when I see a
turquoise and rose gold color, I just think of like
2010s fashion (laughs) which is not my favorite era. And I also wish that the
bustle was part of the dress and not like a wrapped
around it like a belt, even though I know that it was necessary to do the whole transformation. That's just my opinion. I don't have a bone to pick with Blake. It wasn't my favorite look, but I can see why everyone liked it, okay. So Camila Cabello, I don't know what the hell she's wearing because she literally looks
like a bowl of fruity pebbles. She's wearing a Prabal
Gurung white lace up crop top with a full skirt that has
pastel floral detailing and a very very long train. The top honestly looks really cheap it reminds me of something you would find on Pretty
Little Thing or Shein. I don't know if it's because the top
doesn't fit snugly to her body. There's a lot of room it looks like, which makes it look ill
fitted and therefore cheap, but also the straps that
cross in the middle, it's kind of giving festival attire. I don't know, the skirt is also just kind of
like gaudy in my opinion. And the entire look does not make me think
of Gilded Age at all. Camila also said this about her dress, which I've been trying to
decipher for like ages now. - He made this dress, completely
upcycled and sustainable, which to me was like the
Gilded Age I think of luxury and materialism
and industrialization and this to me having
this sustainable dress is kind of celebrating those trends of innovation and ingenuity but like kind of applying it to the challenge that we have now. - So in conclusion, you admit that you
didn't follow the theme. And I'm obviously not shitting on the sustainability influence because I praised Billie Eilish's look, but Billie Eilish and
her stylist and designer were able to combine the
Gilded Age with sustainability. Whereas I feel like
Camila and Prabal Gurung, and if there was a stylist involved, they just kind of went
for like a new design. Emma Chamberlain, my friend Issa actually style assisted for Emma Chamberlain this season so if you're watching Issa, hi. (chuckles) Because of Emma's blood
pact with Louis Vuitton, she is wearing Louis and Cartier jewelry. I love the top so much. This is something I would
love to have in my closet. I would wear this all the freaking time. The sleeves are totally representative of the leg of mutton sleeve
resurgence of the 1890s. I also really like the skirt, the 1890s saw the end
of the bustle period. So I don't think there
needed to be a bustle and I think it looks really good, and I know people love a bustle but sometimes you just don't need one. And also the bustle was not prominent during the entire Gilded Age. So, you can also see the
Charles Worth reference in the dress which I really like. The only thing I would've liked to see is a little bit more detail in the skirt. Like maybe in the hem considering this is gilded glamor and Emma's look still feels
like pretty safe and subdued, also a touch of yellow,
somewhere on the skirt would've been a nice
way to balance the look. Okay, Emma Corrin, this
was very unique and corky, AKA very on brand for Emma
Corrin's normal fashion sense. They're wearing custom Miu
Miu with Cartier jewelry. Cartier seems to be sponsoring
a lot of people tonight. Her event is also inspired by New York socialite Evander Berry Wall who in the 1880s was known for
being extremely well dressed. He often wore pointed collars,
stockings and silk cats. This particular image
of him in a plied coat was the jumping off point for Emma's look. Their stylist, Harry
Lambert also told Vogue, "I'm quite a strong believer that the Met Gala theme
should be followed, and I thought it would
be a fun opportunity to play with references." that is literally music to
my ears, and I wanna see, I wanna hear every stylist
saying those words to me because like that's your
job as a stylist to follow, to follow the dress code. So thank you Harry Lambert for doing that. Emma's look is one of my
favorites of the night I love an obscure reference and she's also one of the only people to show up in a top hat. And it's a very fun look overall. So Emma Stone is wearing a sheer white silk satin
mini dress by Louis Vuitton trimmed with long white ostrich feathers. It's also the same piece she wore to her wedding after party so okay, we love an outfit repeat moment. What I don't love is the dress itself, which is first of all, not on theme because it's clearly like based on 1920s tubular flower dresses,
but I actually think it looks way more like a
two thousands party dress. There's something about the
dress that looks very casual. Maybe it's the lack of jewelry or the lack of like detail and shimmer. I don't know. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jodie Turner-Smith turned out better Art Deco looks but once again, 1920s is not Gilded Age. Evan mock is wearing head of state. For me this is a partial sleigh I think he looks great and it's definitely more interesting take than the white tie men's wear that most of the dudes are
showing up on the red carpet. Now that that's a bad thing by the way, because at least they're
following the dress code it's just like an unfortunate fact that men's wear during the Gilded Age was like kind of like
not that interesting. Suits were kind of the norm. What bothers me more is that like when some dudes on the red carpet, they just like decide to wear a black Tux and forgo the white tie completely. Like all you had to do was put on a white tie
instead of a black tie and it would've been like
this much more on theme, but you didn't do that, did you? Evan Mock did take some fashion risks here I love the yellow. My only issue is that I think the design takes more from earlier
historical fashion. If you look closely at the pants, you can see the subtle
slashing details that resemble the popular painting cut out details in 15th through 17th century clothing. I also would've opted for an
1880 style corset silhouette, which looks more like this. In comparison, the silhouette
of the corset jacket he's wearing looks way
more like late 1700 stays. I also think a matching yellow top hat would complete the look much more. Okay, next is Gemma Chan. - [Announcer] The woman
was too stunned to speak. - I'm gonna be honest. I think the leather jacket is terrible. It's too distracting and
makes her look very boxy the fact that it's cropped creates this unflattering
segmented silhouette. I do like how it swishes when it moves to give this like chandelier
effect, but in photos, it's just like not very cute. As for the dress I've seen it before it's Louis Vuitton Spring 2022. And actually on the runway, it was styled with a blazer that would've made the look
honestly more on theme. Hoyeon Jung also wore a dress
from the same collection for the 2022 Critics Choice Awards and even had her hairstyle
the exact same way. So I would've liked to see something a little
bit more original from Gemma. The shape of the dress also reminds me of robe robe
de style dresses of the 1920s. So once again, not on theme. So Kim showed up in the
Marilyn Monroe dress. The one that Marilyn wore to
serenade president Kennedy on his 45th birthday in 1962. The dress was originally
sketched out by Bob Mackie and designed by Jean Louis and has been on display at
Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum for the last couple years, which Kim was able to
loan out for the event. About the look she said, "The idea really came to me after the gala in September last year. I thought to myself, what would I've done
for the American theme, if it had not been the Balenciaga look? What's the most American
thing you can think of? And that's Marilyn Monroe. For me, the most Marilyn Monroe moment is when she sang happy birthday to JFK. It was that look." It would've been great if
she could have done this look for the September Met Gala, but we've moved on we're with
a different theme now babes. I know a lot of old Hollywood
slash Marilyn Monroe fans were against Kim borrowing this look. I think a lot of people are
blowing it out of proportion. The whole process to
get Kim into this dress was very long and arduous. Like the museum did not
play any games with this. They only allowed her to
wear it for like five minutes on the red carpet before
she had to go change and give it back to the museum. So they had very strict procedures. So obviously there was like
a team of professional people who are not gonna let
this dress get ruined and if you're against like the symbolism of Kim wearing Marilyn's dress, then that's fine like that's your opinion but I really am uncomfortable with the kind of rhetoric
that I've seen online about people reacting to Kim's dress and being like, oh, she's so vulgar, she doesn't deserve to wear Marilyn dress. Or she's such like an attention whore. And these are a lot of the same sentiments that people spewed towards Marilyn when Marilyn was still alive. And I just think that's like not cool. And for the record, I do
not think Kim and Marilyn are comparable figures. Like Marilyn suffered a
lot she struggled a lot. She had very humble beginnings. Kim was like born rich and she's like extremely rich right now. And you know, like totally
different narratives. But at the end of the day, I don't think Marilyn would've cared if she was alive today that Kim is wearing her dress. Like she's not that kind of petty girl. And I don't know why people are getting like super petty about this whole thing. The only thing that I'm petty about is that it's not on theme (laughs). Also, she bleached her hair,
but then put it up in a bun. So I'm like, if you're gonna do the bit like commit to the bit, like why are we not doing a 60s hairstyle? And I also don't get the
point of adding this like what looks like a very
cheap faux fur jacket, which doesn't really add anything. I actually think it takes
away from the dress. Yeah okay, that's all
I'm gonna say about Kim. Let's move on to Kylie. Kylie is for some God awful reason wearing a backwards baseball cap under a veil to the Met Gala. The dress is from the
Off-White's Fall 2022 collection. And I mean, if you're gonna pick a dress from this collection the other wedding dress the one that Bella Hadid
wore on the runway, would've been the more ideal pick I think, because at least it has
those like gigot sleeves that are kind of reminiscent
of the Victorian era, if we're gonna really stretch. But no I don't understand this like floral wedding dress at all. The silhouette is like a hoop skirt. This sheer T-shirt underneath
the bodice is confusing for any kind of formal event. The veil over the baseball cap. The fact that the
baseball cap is backwards. I get that it's like a
tribute to Virgil Abloh, but it seems like the
entire Kardashian clan just repeated the theme
from last year's Met Gala. They like didn't get
the memo for some reason that we've established something else. So I am obsessed with Normani's look, this is probably my
favorite look of the night she's wearing custom Christian Siriano. Her top is puff sleeved with
a strappy chokered neckline. The skirt is H-symmetrical and low rise. I love everything about it,
it's opulent in a subtle way. I think the choice of
using what looks like a kind of heavier velvet
fabric was really good because I think if it was just like in any other kind of fabric, it would've looked a
little bit too subdued. If anything, I think Christian could have applied little
crystals onto the dress and it would've made it even more opulent, but he did his homework for sure. I love the choker collar, which is reminiscent of
the high collar trend of the 1890s day dresses, the sleeves and the
bustling layers of the skirt also paint homage the
silhouettes of the Gilded Age and the hat, there are not
enough hats at this Met Gala. I feel like if you're wearing a hat, I will give you just major points for the fact that you're wearing a hat, unless it's a baseball cap. So yeah, it's fantastic I love
that it was a creative take, but you can definitely see all
the historical inspirations, chef's kiss. Sarah Jessica Parker, okay. The head piece is crazy, but I'm so used to seeing
SJP in crazy head wear during her "Sex and the City" days that I'm a little unfaced, but I love it. Feather hat details were really popular throughout the Victorian
era so it's very on point. She's wearing a black and white ball gown made of silk faille moire, and taffeta with Swarovski-crystal buttons. The dress is by Christopher John Rogers and pays an homage to
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley who was the first black
female fashion designer in the White House. The major inspiration was actually Elizabeth's gingham dress
design from the 1860s. So SJP skirt really leans into the 1860s (indistinct) silhouette, which makes sense given their reference. But 1860s was before the Gilded Age. So, (chuckles). Overall I do like the vision, like wanting to give an homage. I like the feather head piece. I like mostly everything about the dress. I just wish that the skirt
would've been a little bit more tight to give more of that
late 1800s silhouette. And now some quickfire reviews
because I'm getting tired. Shawn Mendes, looking like Dr.
Strange, not in a good way. Anita, amazing I love the
deep purple jewel tone. Love the pearls, love the
bustle, very on theme. Thomas Doherty, nailed it. Sometimes you just gotta keep
it traditional and simple and just mix up the colors. Men, take notes. Paloma Elsesser, easily one of my favorite
looks of the night. Love a stacked high pearl collar recalls the jewelry trends of the 1890s. Love a corset that actually resembles the Victorian corset shape
and not 18th century days. Love the little girder
details, overall very modern but definitely still
Gilded Age inspired look. Vanessa Hudgens, honestly
silhouette is fire. Those leg of mutton sleeves are very nice, but the choice is just a
little too safe you know, we're talking Gilded glamor,
where's the embellishment. All the details are
just a little suicidal. The sheer fabric also feels too casual. I see a sheer fabric and my
first thought is night gown, not red carpet. Riz Ahmed, loved Riz's vision here. - So this is a shout out
to the immigrant workers they kept the Gilded Age golden. - That's amazing.
- Yeah man, as well, you know makes this city run. So this is some work where we purpose by Forest Designs done in silk. Yeah, this jewelry piece has actually taken inspiration from like a lot of Islamic
jewelry from India. - Amazing.
- So yeah, just trying to elevate and celebrate that, you know, immigrant culture. - I mean he's wearing
Cartier and is at an event that no immigrant worker would
probably ever be invited to, but either way I do
appreciate the sentiment behind challenging like the
mainstream historical narrative, because yeah, the
reality is the Gilded Age was only Gilded for a
small subset of people. I usually do love a Katy
Perry Met Gala moment, but the bustle and the pannier
is a little bit too much. I feel like there's three different dresses
contained in this one dress. In photos, it actually looks pretty cool because you're getting one angle, but 360 view, very unsure. Cole Sprouse, I'm extremely confused by this inspector gadget schick look, maybe if you wore a sheer shirt or went shirtless under the harness instead of wearing that silver shirt, I would've liked it more, but the silver on silver on
silver is very hard to pull off and it's just not working for him. The layering is strange, particularly with how the
shirt overlaps the pants. Maybe if he tucked in the
shirt, it would work better. I don't know, also how
is this on theme Cole? Where is your top hat? Nicola Coughlan slay the boots house down. What are my favorite looks for sure. - If I actually go, I've
really gotta do the theme. I went on Pinterest. I do love a Pinterest and
sort of put together ideas. Like I wanted to look
at actual clothes from- - Yeah.
- The era. And then Richard Quinn,
these, these amazing drawings, we just really nailed it. And then he did these
feathers on the runway and then a big old cape. - We love a girl who does her research. Okay so that's the end of my
Met Gala review for this year. Please let me know in the comments, what your favorite look was, if there's any look that I didn't mention that you have strong feelings about, I obviously could not
get to every single look worn at the Met Gala. I just try to touch upon some
of the looks that I really liked or had strong opinions about. But overall, I think my
favorite looks of the night, Normani for sure. Anita, Nicola Coughlan,
Billie Eilish and Paloma. Probably my least favorite looks
of the night, Kylie Jenner, Hoyeon Jung who I didn't talk about, but she does wear something that's just like completely 21st century. Like not on theme at all. Basically, anyone who was just
like so far from the theme, like Kieran Culkin, who
I'm like, okay we get it like you think you're
better than the Met Gala. Anyways, Anna Wintour my
inbox is open for next year. Please, please send me a ticket (laughs) and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day and I'll
see you all next time. Bye bye. (soft music)
