Was this year's Met Gala the most disappointing one yet?

7 May 2024, 14:26

I have tuned into the Met every year for the past nine years and this year's Gala left me feeling bored and uninspired.

The Met Gala is easily the biggest fashion event of the year. Think the Academy Awards of the fashion industry. Traditionally hosted on the first Monday of May by Vogue’s Anna Wintour, the Gala acts as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Where celebrities and designers come together to execute eclectic looks in keeping with a theme. This years theme, The Garden of Time - inspired by J.G Ballard’s 1962 short story - celebrates the Costume Institute’s latest exhibition: Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.

In previous years, Met Gala themes have included, Camp: Notes on Fashion, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, and (arguably the best-executed) Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.

A 10-seat table at the event starts at $350,000, so you would think stars would go above and beyond to make the most out of the Met… however this year I was left disappointed.

Typically it’s hard to pick a favourite look from the Gala because there are countless innovative and notable looks, but this year many of the outfits felt lacklustre and forgettable.

Kim Kardashian usually owns the Met Gala, having previously worn a genuine Marilyn Monroe dress and a dress constructed primarily of pearls. This year, however, she stepped out in a custom Margiela gown paired with a rogue grey cardigan. Despite online speculation, this was not to hide a last minute outfit malfunction.

The Kardashian said the look represented, “the wildest night of my life in a garden” where she grabbed her “boyfriend’s sweater and threw it on”… I’m not entirely sure this is what the Met organisers had in mind when they determined the Garden of Time theme.

American rapper Cardi B attended the Gala in an extravagant, tulle dress. The custom Windowsen gown took up the majority of the carpet and needed a team of nine to help manoeuvre the garment around the museum.

Whilst the dress is remarkable to look at, there seems to be no link to the theme of the night... not even a floral embellishment to give a slight nod.

However, the gothic, off-the-shoulder number does follow tradition for Cardi B. In previous years, the Grammy winner's dresses have often been the most extravagant of the evening, although this is the first year she has decided to ignore the brief.

Singer Rita Ora also made an appearance at the biggest night in fashion. The British singer wore a beaded Marni dress that left very little to the imagination.

To give credit where credit is due, the sentiment behind the look is impressive. Rita Ora revealed that each individual bead featured on the dress dates back to the first and second century BC - in keeping with the 'Time' part of The Garden of Time.

Aside from this, the look caused many spectators to compare her look to "beaded curtains", with one Twitter user going as far to say, "Why does Rita Ora look like she just climbed out of a swamp?".

Kylie Jenner arrived to the event in custom Oscar de la Renta. The reality star says the dress was meant to resemble a garden statue, however the gown left many, including myself, wanting more.

Whilst the Jenner claims to be on theme, without any explanation the outfit looks average and could be worn to any red carpet event.

Usually the Met Gala gives celebrities the opportunity to channel wacky, unconventional designs, but the influencer, along with many other attendees, opted for a beige, unimaginative look.

American rapper Doja Cat does think outside the box when it comes to the Met Gala. For example, last year she hit the carpet dressed as Karl Lagerfeld's cat, Choupette.

This year she had two looks, both as unusual as the other. As she left her hotel, the Demons singer had a bath towel wrapped around her body and head - the sentiment behind is still unknown.

By the time she arrived at the Met carpet, she had changed into a wet t-shirt look which she revealed was stuck down with hair gel. The look was completed by smudged makeup which contributed to her 'fresh from the shower' look.

In an interview explaining the look, the Grammy winner said: "I knew that people were going to do flowers, my flower of choice is the most used flower and it's cotton."

Overall, I appreciate Doja Cat's flair for unique Met Gala looks, but this year I felt left wanting more.

2024's Met Gala, for me, has been the most disappointing in a long time. With big players such as Beyonce, Blake Lively, and Lady Gaga giving the event a miss, spectators were bound to be bored.

Next year's Met, Extragalactic: A Retrospective on Space and Fashion, will hopefully give some celebrities and designers the chance to redeem themselves.