On Monday, May 2nd, the 2022 Costume Institute Benefit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, more popularly known as the “Met Gala,” is getting some serious buzz about being one of the most exclusive parties ever to be thrown. As a platform for over-the-top fashion, and not only — we all remember Alexandria Ocasio-Ortez’s dress last year at the event, making headlines with her “tax the rich” message– people the world over will get a chance this evening to see what this year will bring. With tickets costing $35,000 each, and tables going for $200,000 to $300,000, this event promises to be an extravagant one.
Anna Wintour, who has been a chairwoman for the Gala since 1995, will continue tonight to be an honorary co-chair, along with fashion designer Tom Ford and Instagram’s Adam Mosseri. This year’s co-chairs will be Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Regina King and Lin-Manuel Miranda, all personally chosen by Anna Wintour.
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will open the American fashion event, and the Gala’s theme this year is Gilded Glamour and White Tie, tied to the 2022 exhibition at the Costume Institute, In America: An Anthology of Fashion. The Gilded Glamour theme is a nod to an era when the Astors, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Whitneys ruled New York City’s high society. The term “Gilded Age”, which was coined by Mark Twain, refers to post-Civil War America, from the 1870s to 1900, when there was enormous industrial growth, but also great wealth disparity, materialism, and corruption, with high concentration of wealth becoming more visible, huge fortunes being made and lost, and clashes between “old money” and “new money”. Spectators will be given a chance to see first-hand how tonight’s celebrity guests and their designers will run wild with this theme. As the title of the Gala suggests, the trends of the time included white tie tuxedos, as well as high neckline gowns, princess silhouettes, and fabrics such as satin, taffeta and velvet, with corsets, gloves, plumes and all sorts of frills to complete the look. With HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age” debuting this year, one need not look too far to get an understanding of the fashion during this period of time in American history.
Some of the confirmed attendees are Lady Gaga, Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé; and this year, the entire Kardashian-Jenner clan has been invited to attend for the first-time ever in the history of the Gala.
