Rihanna in custom Maison Margiela and Stephen Jones (hat)
I mean, she is amazing. Rihanna is the best person to host the Met Gala, because she clearly loves it and takes it seriously and NEVER just shows up in some random old thing. This is COMMITMENT. There is a POPE HAT INVOLVED.
Rihanna in custom Maison Margiela
The workmanship and beading on this is amazing; apparently it took MANY MANY hours.
Rihanna in custom Maison Margiela
I also kinda feel like, if there's any justice, Rihanna will occasionally get to take this coat out of the archives and wear it over jeans to things. It would look amazing.
Rihanna in custom Maison Margiela
And here's the back view. I have to say, and we talked about this a bit in our Cosmo piece, that I think it's interesting that people have sort of stopped talking about John Galliano (who is the creative director of Margiela) as being problematic, even though he was fired from Dior and (temporarily) exiled from the fashion community for his quite horrible anti-Semitic rantings. Admittedly, that was a while ago (but not as long ago as you might think; it was 2011), the Anti-Defamation League offered him absolution, and I think everyone generally wants to believe that other people can learn and change -- and I especially think the fashion world wants to believe that of the talented, and Galliano is tremendously talented. I wrote about Margiela at last year's Met - they did Katy Perry's bonkers get-up -- and didn't touch on the topic myself, and we didn't get into it in the comments either, so I'm not scolding people for not bringing this up at every event, nor am I criticizing Rihanna for opting for Margiela. But it's interesting to see how quickly the world turns.
Anna Wintour in Chanel Haute Couture, Bee Shaffer in Valentino
Anyway. Moving right along! I know Heather didn't love Anna's look, but I kinda dig it. She looks like a mean, religious ghost and I look forward to being haunted by her. Bee, on the other hand, always looks amazing at this event and this red Valentino is stunning on her -- even if it's entertaining that it's just sort of lashed to that one arm.
Donatella Versace in Versace
Donatella looks pretty rad in this, if not...overtly religious. This theme was well suited to the Versace aesthetic; they dressed a LOT of people last night.
Donatella Versace in Versace
It's pretty glam from the back, too.
Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn with husband George
Speaking of Pretty Glam from the Back. This is stunning from the rear view.
Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn
And then IT'S PANTS! Richard Quinn is the designer whose fashion show at London Fashion Week was attended by the Queen; having one of the Met Gala hosts wear him is a BIG GET. (He does really love a floral textile.) I think my note here is that I don't think the pants exactly WORK. The idea is amazing but the satin fabric almost makes them feel cheap?
Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn with husband George
"Everyone calm down. The pants are fine."
Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn with husband George
I do think this train is a HIT. As far as how it fits the theme, certainly the rose is a traditional part of religious iconography with regards to the Virgin Mary, so I think we can give credit there, right? (I was literally thinking, "how does this work with the theme?" as I was writing this and I looked over at the painting on the wall next to me...of the Virgin Mary, with a floral design on her robes.)
Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn with husband George
The face of a man who realizes he's had an internship for TEN YEARS and hasn't been to the office ONCE!