From Kim Kardashian’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress borrowed from the wardrobe of Marilyn Monroe, to Kylie Jenner’s unusual take on the night’s theme ‘Gilded Glamour,’ the Met Gala had it all! 

 Though I love to marvel at the exquisite dresses and Avant-garde nature of the Gala, I must first examine the Gala itself.  

 Its current curator Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988, has paved her way in the fashion industry and created new shapes and images, by which the fashion community is inspired in their own design work. Contrary to popular knowledge, Wintour did not create the Met Gala, but Lambert, a renowned fashion publicist in 1948, created the Gala to raise money for her Costume Institute and mark its opening. Since then, the Met Gala has become a world-renowned event, in which designers showcase their newest work and ability to create a piece that fits any theme, such as ‘Gilded Glamour’ (2022), ‘Camp: Notes on Fashion’ (2019), and ‘Heavenly Bodies’ (2018).  

Evidently, the guest list for such an event is one every celebrity desires to be on…. Throughout all the glitz and glamor of the event lies the perspective of some who view this event as contradictory to its glamorous and celebratory front. To be at this event, one must make it onto the esteemed, hand-picked list curated by Wintour, which is posed to designers who may choose an icon they desire to work with. Though desirable by many, the reality of the matter serves a much bleaker picture of celebrity life and events. A specific contender in this issue is Khloe Kardashian, a business mogul, reality TV star, and millionaire, who has never been invited to attend the carpet… until this year. This calls into question Wintour’s selective process; what must one do to make it on the list? Why are all the Kardashian/ Jenner family invited except Khloe? Although we will never know the reason, one can only imagine the humiliation and confusion the 37-year-old businesswoman must feel watching Vogue and MTV livestreams of all of her sisters gracing a red carpet that she did not get an invite to.  

 Similarly, we can also examine that the Kardashian/Jenner family have never been selected to attend the evening in the same years… until this year. Though again, we may never know the true reason – one can speculate that this may be a publicity ploy. Did the family entice Wintour to attend to advertise their new show ‘The Kardashians’ now airing on Hulu? Did they feel their relevance as public figures were dwindling, as social media influencers, like Emma Chamberlain, Addison Rae, and Nikkie Tutorials, were invited to the Gala and seemed to gain more traction than the family themselves?  

 Khloe adds an interesting layer to their theory, posting a tweet following the Gala quoting; “anxiety was through the roof… Am I supposed to admit is almost had a heart attack on that carpet tonight?” This disclosure of anxiety further calls into question the reality of the glamorous and seemingly ‘perfect’ nature of the Gala; should celebrities, still being everyday humans, be put in such stressful, scrutinising situations where their health becomes a concern as a result of the event?  

Considering all of this, we can only deduce as mere humans, that we may never understand the true reality of the scrutinising yet glamorised life of a celebrity, but only observe its ramifications through our many screens.