The Met Gala: A Guide to the first Monday in May

By Jenna Noguera

Edited by Molly Ryan

May 6, 2022

The first Monday in May has come and gone, which means the world is now discussing the outfits of many celebrities who attended the annual Met Gala. But what actually is the Met Gala, besides just a red carpet?

The event began in 1948 by Eleanor Lambert to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new department, the Costume Institute. The Costume Institute is the only part of the Met that must raise their own money.

Since this event is about raising money in the name of fashion, what you wear to the gala has become the most important aspect. Each year, attendees are given a theme; this year it was all about Gilded Glamor.

AP journalist, Leanne Italie says the Met Gala is, “The year’s biggest night in fashion.”

The Met Gala is always the kick-off for the spring exhibit at the Institute. Which is open to the public after the event.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief for Vogue has been organizing the Met Gala since 1995. Each year she picks a host for the event, based on who she thinks will embody the theme.

This year Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Regina King, and Lin-Manuel Miranda hosted. With honorary co-chairs, Anna Wintour, and Tom Ford, one of the designers of this years exhibit.

Lively wore a rose gold and green dress by Versace, giving homage to the Gilded Age of New York City and the Statue of Liberty. She was picked by Anna Wintour because she has embodied the prior themes of the event.

On average, it costs $35,000 for each ticket to the Met Ball. Typically a designer like Gucci will buy a table from $200,000 to $300,000 and choose celebrities to sit at their table.

However, just because a designer wants to dress you for the Met Gala does not mean you’ll get a seat. The guest list is very exclusive. This year only 400 people were in attendance, and all of them were chosen by Anna Wintour.

The world doesn’t know who is invited to the gala until the night before to make it more interesting for everyone. Also, no one except the selected knows what happens during the gala.

“For this reason, guests must abide by the no phone (and, therefore, no social media) policy,” Vogue stated about keeping the secrets of the event.

After the Red Carpet where the guests show off their outfits to the public they go inside the Met where they are greeted with a huge floral arrangement. This year the arrangement had over 250,000 white roses.

This year they had cocktail hour where they looked at the exhibit which spanned over thirteen rooms in the American Wing. At 8 o’clock the guests are summoned to dinner.

The most exclusive night in fashion raises eight figures for the Costume Institute every year.