I’ve made the mistake in years gone by of showing up a little late to the event, right when the Beyoncés and J. Los of the world are having their moment — then you have photographers screaming for you to get out of the way! So this year I came nice and early.
The Met Gala is known for delivering strong red carpet looks and Monday night's event was no different. It wasn't only about the clothes though because the beauty looks were equally as strong.
While there were a handful of questionable looks (sorry, Rachel Zoe and Christina Ricci), the majority were flawless. With both hair and make-up it was all about contrasts. Hair looks were either really severe and straight and generally tied back or came in Veronica Lake style waves and make-up was either really natural or dark and vampy.
Have a look through the gallery for my favourite looks.
Anticipation for this year's Met Gala was high and the event definitely didn't disappoint. While it's true, there were several disappointing looks from people like Coco Rocha and Jessica Chastain, the majority of the looks were really strong and it was really good to see people research and commit to this year's Schiaparelli theme.
The above is a round-up of my favourite looks. Regular readers will know that I was on the dubious side about Joseph Altuzarrateaming up with Lana Del Rey but I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Her dress, along with her new dark hair, looked beautiful and so did Carey Mulligan in her golden Prada creation. As an Olsen fan, I'm generally impressed by anything either twin turns up in and last night was no different. The black dress from The Row that Mary-Kate Olsen was classically simple but still powerful.
This year's Met Gala was special, as it marked the first time that the event was livestreamed online. Interestingly, though, the livestream wasn't only about the clothes as the photographers on the red carpet stole the attention. Along with a lot of general abuse about people getting in the way of their shots, we also heard a lot of pawning over outfits too.
Just about every major designer and model has descended on New York last night ahead of the Met Gala on Monday but ahead of the event, Balmain's Olivier Rousteing threw a big party last night at Chelsea's Hotel Americano. At the event the designer spoke about the launch of the brand's new Twitter and Facebook accounts that became live this week, revealing that he plans to get in on the Twitter action himself. 'It's a good way to understand what [customers[ feel about the collection, about the clothes and they can see the details, and they can be more a part of my soul,' he told The Cut at the event. 'I hope they will 'like us' and enjoy what we enjoyed to create.'
Aside from that, what was more interesting was his revelation that Joan Smalls is his guest at Monday's event. The partnership definitely works. Smalls looks good in everything but it will be interesting to see how she looks in a piece that showcases the new direction that the young designer is taking the brand.
That wasn't the only Met Gala confirmation from last night. Karlie Kloss will accompany Jason Wu, Anja Rubik is going with Anthony Vaccarello and Constance Jablonski will attend with Haider Ackermann. New in today is that Arizona Muse is teaming up with Erdem, Thakoon with Christina Ricci and Doutzen Kroes with Roland Mouret. The most interesting confirmation is that Karolina Kurkova will attend with Rachel Zoe, cementing her as a designer to be reckoned with.
See images from the Balmain party in the slideshow.