May 6, 20234 min read

The First Monday of May

Another year, another 1st Monday of May. Whether you love it or think it’s eerily similar to the Capitol (Hunger Games), we all end up being witness to the Met Gala. I (being a fashion enthusiast and critic) love the MET, so I’m here to give you a rundown of my 2023 Best Dressed. Shall we?

Nicole Kidman

For the most part, I tend to enjoy Nicole Kidman’s red-carpet fashion, but this one takes the cake. It’s the dress she wore to her 2004 Chanel N°5 ad, and it is just as beautiful 19 years later. Not only that, but it has a sentimental connection to the man of the night, Karl Lagerfeld. She said, referring to the ad: "My deep, deep love of Karl came from this time together. So to be able to honor him and wear this now for Chanel...and show how these couture gowns last...if you take care of them and love them, they are timeless.”. And she’s totally right, she pulled together the timeless look with a vintage, 1940s, Omega cocktail watch which matches the ribbon in her hair. I’ll take the opportunity to mention, that I love the loose waves they did, and think they complement the dress beautifully.

Michelle Yeoh

I have a problem with people who don’t dress their age, it’s not about being agist or

anything, it's just a rule I have. For example, JLo. She’s gorgeous, but I don’t think her dress was fit for 50. For this, I absolutely adore Michelle Yeoh, because she looks amazing and chic whilst dressing for her age. She’s wearing a Karl Lagerfeld tuxedo-style gown, channeling the designer himself. To top it off she wore a custom Richard Millie diamond watch, tastefully tying the look in.

Elle Fanning

Elle's was probably my favorite look of the night and I hate that more people haven’t talked about it! It has such a cute story behind it: When she was 13, she was photographed by Karl, and all the models were wearing black blazers, but Karl gave her a flower crown to make her stand out. She also wore a bridal look (Vivienne Westwood), which I was surprised more people didn’t wear, seeing as Karl is the king of bridal. She looks so graceful and just pretty, it fits her style perfectly!

Anok Yai

Anok Yai looked insane, it was jaw-drop gorgeous, just amazing. Kudos to her makeup artist because I think her glow is one of the prettiest parts of the ensemble. To achieve it, they used the Lancome Nutrix Royal Nourishing and Restoring Body Butter. She wore a Prabal Gurung dress, made from oxidized gold and silver hand embroidered degrade sequin paillettes, and it’s inspired by this amazing Chanel SS 1993 Couture silhouette:

Camila Morrone

It may be my current Daisy Jones and the Six obsession, but Camila Morrone’s outfit was also one of my favorites. It’s custom Rodarte, and what I love about it is that the theme is present, but it doesn’t overshadow Rodarte’s identity. The hair and the dress totally fit this 70s vibe she has going on, just looking cool, effortless, and chic.

Bad Bunny

I'm probably biased, but this was my favorite men's look of the night! He put on a show without making a fool of himself in the process (cough, cough, Lil Nas X). It’s an open-back, white tweed suit with an eight-meter-long flower train. Not only does it fit the theme, being monochrome, but word on the street says that on the inside of the jacket is a custom-painted picture of Casa Malaparte, photographed by Karl in 1997. He walked the carpet with the designer of his outfit, Jacquemus, in the flesh. Teen Vogue said “He’s bringing sexy back”, and I couldn’t agree more.

Lila and Kate Moss

I honestly love Lila and Kate Moss, I think they’re an unproblematic mother-daughter duo, and I always look forward to their red-carpet appearances. This time around, they were twinning in custom Fendi. For those of you who don’t know, Karl Lagerfeld was the creative director of Fendi from 1965-2019, keeping these outfits totally within the theme’s ballpark. The pastels and silhouette of Lila’s dress remind me of past Chanel couture collections, and Kate’s shawl and slip are very 90s Chanel. They topped off the looks with slightly edgy makeup (Kate) and contrasting slicked-back hair (Lila), a staple of any Lagerfeld runway.

Cara Delevinge

It would be a crime to not have Cara on this list, seeing as she was Karl’s muse. This time around he was her muse: her outfit is a complete ode to Karl, it’s his essence.

I truly believed more people would be wearing white/platinum wigs, but Cara (I think) was the only one. She totally pulled it off, recreating one of her Chanel Cruise 2013 looks (middle image). The dress itself is an oversized version of Karl’s iconic white shirt, so if anyone was on theme, it was her.

With regard to their friendship, she said: “The first time I met him, I was immediately blown away by his kindness and generosity”.

Olivia Wilde

And last, but not least, Olivia Wilde. The dress is custom Chloe, inspired by a 1983 Karl Lagerfeld design, which is supposed to look like a violin. I thoroughly appreciate that this is a reference to Lagerfeld outside of his work at Chanel. Not only that, but I feel like it fits the 70s-80s California Girl aesthetic Olivia has. Don’t think I’m not aware that Margaret Zhang wore the same dress in black! Although I adore Zhang, I did not like the train her dress had, sorry!

Look, peeps, I totally get that the theme for this year’s Met Gala was highly controversial, as Karl Lagerfeld upholds an infamous reputation for making derogatory comments against immigrants, victims of sexual assault, and fat people. And while I do NOT condone any of his actions, it doesn’t make him any less of a fashion genius.

To me, Karl always had the perfect balance of edgy and feminine, avant-guard and traditional, sexy and conservative; which (in my opinion) is what made him so great. That is what I’m trying to showcase with these outfits, the outfits I would’ve loved to see on the Colgate Carpet:

Spring 1999 Chanel Couture