It seems that the A-List read my article on last year’s Met Gala and how I was frustrated that very few celebrities follow the dress-code because, this year, they improved. 

The vast majority of guests were perfectly on theme, but what a theme! Karl Lagerfeld was an influential German designer and creative director who lived from 1933 to 2019. In his time, Lagerfeld worked with many brands including Chanel, Chole, Fendi, Balmain and Patou. 

Lagerfeld is famously credited with saving Coco Chanel’s fashion house in the 1980s when the brand was struggling as well as for his signature look of a tailor suit, sunglasses, fingerless gloves and a decorative tie; Lagerfeld used muses to inspire his designs which typically included pearls, chains, leather and fur. 

However, Lagerfeld’s life was not without controversy. The fashionista publicly said many problematic things regarding women’s bodies, sexual assault survivors, the LGBTQIA+ community and the Islamic faith. In short, Lagerfeld generally said a lot without thinking first. 

Many people were upset and confused by the choice of theme for this year’s costume exhibition. The public thought that there were other designers who deserved recognition more, while others simply thought it was not a classic Met Gala theme. An upside of the theme was it allowed many celebrities to be sustainable with their ensembles. Many looks were pulled from the archives and were worn previously by the celebrity themselves. 

Controversy aside, it is clear the guests understood the dress-code because they delivered. While I usually care more about being on theme I found myself a little bored this year seeing over 100 black and white looks. I hope next year’s theme is more exciting and visually pleasing. That being said, here are my favorites and the ones that will haunt me until next year: 

Best Dressed

• Dua Lipa as a Chanel Bride
  • Co-chair Dua Lipa stunned as a Chanel bride from the 1992 Couture Collection designed by the man of the evening. The tweed ball gown was the perfect elevated style of the classic material synonymous with the fashion house. The true star of Lipa’s look was Tiffany & Co.’s new Legendary diamond, which is set on the label’s Lucinda Star necklace.
• Penelope Cruz as a Chanel Bride 
  • Matching her co-chair, Penelope Cruz wore an ethereal Chanel light blue ball gown inspired by the 1988 Haute Couture Line by Lagerfeld. The dress was complete with pearls, sequins and gemstones. The delicate sheer organza hood made Cruz into a fairytale come true. Cruz was one of Lagerfeld’s muses and she certainly lived up to it in this look.
• Conan Gray in Balmain
  • Conan Gray elevated the signature Lagerfeld look with his Balmain ensemble. The floating lapel of the floor-length, black, sparkly jacket was studded with gemstones and pearls. The centerpiece of Gray’s outfit was the bold pearl fan earning him the title of best-dressed man in the minds of many.  
• Bella Ramsey in Thom Browne
  • Bella Ramsey slayed their first Met Gala. Ramsey’s take on Karl Lagerfeld was elegant and elevated, featuring a sharp Tom Brown suit with embroidered pearls. This polished look made the young star stand out on the carpet. 

Worst Dressed

• Jared Leto as Choupette
  • I fully believe that Jared Leto already had this cat costume in his closet and finally found the perfect excuse to wear it. Leto’s realistic cat cosplay was in honor of the designer’s beloved cat Choupette. While the eccentric star was technically on theme, it begs the question: at what cost? 
• Lil Nas X in Dior
  • Lil Nas X’s look took my breath away in the worst way possible – a sleep-paralysis demon in the flesh. The rapper completely covered his entire body, including face, in silver paint, sparkles, pearls and gemstones. The only part of him that was Dior was the thong he wore. 
• Florence Pugh in Valentino
  • Valentino, I’ll never forgive you for turning this gorgeous talent into a shuttlecock. The dress was…fine, but the headpiece, the shaved head, why? Pugh looked like a scalped, bleached bird of paradise doomed to bounce between badminton rackets for the rest of her life. 
• Eileen Gu in Robert Wun Haute Couture
  • I’m not sure if Eileen Gu was trying to raise awareness of the approaching tick season by wearing a white dress covered in bullseye rashes, but it was a massive failure. You know the movie scene where the victim is shot several times in front of a white sheet, but the rating won’t allow for the actual on screen death, so the writers have to find a clever way to show what is happening? That was the material used to make this dress. It was like the bedsheets from a historical fiction movie when they wanted to dramatically show the woman has gotten her period, so she bleeds an hemorrhagic level of blood. That sheet was used to contruct the matching opera length gloves.  

See all the looks and more at https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/met-gala-2023-red-carpet-live-celebrity-fashion.