The Best of the Met Gala 2022... Gilded Glamour!

The much awaited, first Monday of May, brought us the 2022 Met Gala, an event that celebrates the art of fashion, and fundraises for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Each year, it hosts a new theme, with previous themes being 'About Time: Fashion and Duration', 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination' and 'China: Through the Looking glass'. This year, the theme was 'In America: An Anthology of Fashion' and 'Gilded Glamour'.

The Gilded Age was roughly between 1870 and 1900, and was a time of rapid economic growth, but with this came the beginning of major economic imbalance. When we think of fashion of the Gilded Age, we think corsets, bustles, bright colours, super high and elaborate collars, whilst for men, the tuxedo was the main star.

So lets talk about this years main names! This year the gala was hosted by Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Regina King - with the honorary co-chairs being Anna Wintour, Tom Ford and Adam Mosseri. Some of the main names to attend this years Met Gala included The Kardashian clan, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Cardi B, Billie Eilish, and Jack Harlow.

So lets start with two of our hosts, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Blake was dressed by Atelier Versace, with her dress inspired by New York City! We saw a dramatic transformation which changed her originally rose gold gown into a cascading blue train. This train was a teal blue colour to symbolise the Statue of Liberty, with symbols of each star sign on it, to resemble those at Grand Central station. She also wore a crown which had seven tiers, to symbolise the Statue of Liberties seven rays. Ryan Reynolds was dressed by Ralph Lauren in a Brown velvet tux.

Next up we have Billie Eilish in Gucci. This dress was one of the ones more on theme from all of this years looks, seemingly having taken inspiration from an 1885 portrait of Madame Poirson by John Singer Sargent. This look also included some stunning green lace sleeves, which I loved! One of the few males that were mildly on theme was Shawn Mendes in Tommy Hilfiger, who's look featured a sustainable twist, with the up-cycled jacket - which we love to see! Next up we saw Laura Harrier in H&M. I personally loved this look! She has the corset style bodice, the flamboyant skirt, the black velvet gloves, and the impressive stacked pearl necklaces, resembling the extravagant neck pieces they would wear in the Gilded Age. Then, we can't forget miss Penelope Featherington herself, Nicola Coughlan, who was dressed by British designer Richard Quinn for her first Met Gala, with Jimmy Choo court heels and Swarovski jewellery. They took inspiration from the fabrications of lavish 19th-century style, using duchess satin and exposed cups.

We can't talk about the Met Gala without mentioning the Kardashians! This year we were graced with all of the sisters, as well as momager Kris Jenner and boyfriend Corey Gamble, Pete Davidson and Travis Barker. The star of the show really was Kim Kardashian who arrived in the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to president John F Kennedy in 1962. Kim confessed that the dress, originally made by Jean Louis, was originally to small for her, so she had to loose 16lbs in 3 weeks in order to fit into it. She was accompanied by Pete Davidson who wore Dior Men.

We also saw Kourtney and Travis Barker - Kravis - who both wore Thom Browne, with the looks intertwining into one another.

Khloe arrived in a stunning gold Moschino dress, Kris was dressed in a pale yellow Oscar De La Renta gown, and Kendall, who was dressed by Prada in a mesh top and flamboyant black skirt.

Kylie wore an Off White number, paying tribute to the late Virgil Abloh, with whom she was meant to attend the 2020 Met Gala with before it was cancelled.

Valentino brought us many vibrant pink looks on the stairs of the met last night from their Valentino Pink collection! I'm not sure how on theme these looks were, but loved them either way. First we have Sebastian Stan, who arrived head to toe in pink Valentino, from jacket, to shirt, to shoes! It sure was extravagant, and after all, it's the Met Gala, you've got to stand out. Valentino also dressed Glen Close, and as was with Sebastian Stan, she was dressed in head to toe florescent pink. She arrived in pink ankle length flares, button up blouse and made a statement with her pink robe, adorned with a floral, sequinned pattern.

Newly weds Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham, arrived together on the carpet, with Nicola dressed in a Valentino pink chiffon dress, and Brooklyn in a ivory Valentino jacket and trousers, with a mesh top.

Lastly, a pink look that actually wasn't brought to us by Valentino, was Kiki Layne, who was dressed by Atelier Prabal Gurung. She wore a stunning pink gown accompanied with white gloves, both of which were adorned with pink flowers.

Lastly, I just want to include a few more of my favourite outfits of the night!

• Kaia Gerber, dressed by Alexander McQueen

• Phoebe Dynevor, in Louis Vuitton SS22

• Hailey Bieber, in Saint Laurent

• Gigi Hadid, in custom Versace

• Lily James, in Versace

• Ciara, in Micheal Kors

• Cardi B, in Versace

• Jasmine Tookes, in Zuhair Murad Couture

• Bella Hadid, dressed in Burberry

Also, a quick last special mention to reporter Genesis Suero, who wore an absolutely gorgeous dress, custom made by Lucia Rodriguez NYC, she looked like a real life princess!!