Some gowns required small teams to manage vast amounts of fabric and help their wearers up the Met steps.
They’re long, dramatic and a potential tripping hazard. More than a dozen guests at the Met Gala on Monday night wore looks with giant, appendage-like trains flowing behind them.
The gala’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” was intended to spur creative interpretations of classic tailoring techniques and coincide with the Costume Institute’s new exhibit about the history of Black dandy fashion.
While many stars chose suiting variations worn close to the body, others dragged behind them swathes of fabric so long that they blanketed large portions of the carpet. Demi Moore, Shakira, Megan Thee Stallion, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Taraji P. Henson and the K-pop star Rosé all arrived in the silhouette — many of them in the form of sweeping overcoats that could presumably be removed once inside the Metropolitan Museum for the gala’s dinner.
The Met Gala has always been a venue for theatrical looks, but trains have a relatively recent history at the event. In 2015 when the Met’s Costume Institute staged an exhibit about the influence and ingenuity of Chinese design, Rihanna seemed to set the agenda with a yellow dress by the Chinese designer Guo Pei with a vast train that cascaded down the steps.
This year, Rihanna’s fashion influence was felt even among musical artists who were famous before she was born. Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder both wore trains that swallowed whole sections of the Met’s famous steps. (Rihanna herself, who showed up at the event’s tail end, did not wear a train this year and instead opted for a suiting-inspired looked.)
Ms. Ross wore a white feathered overcoat embroidered with the names of her children and eight grandchildren that reportedly included a 18-foot train, requiring several people to assist her up the stairs.
Mr. Wonder’s black beaded suit included a heavily embellished train that also called for the help of multiple stewards as he moved about the carpet.
Shakira’s monochromatic bubble-gum pink look was accessorized with a Gobstopper-size gem necklace. But the jewel paled in comparison to the size of her train, which, in images, appears to be the same length of about 15 photographers lined up on the gala’s carpet.
Megan Thee Stallion’s billowing white furry coat also extended far behind her, much like the black train skirts worn by the actress Cynthia Erivo and the model Vittoria Ceretti.
The burgundy overcoat worn by the singer and actor Teyana Taylor draped over the Met’s flower-speckled carpet as she posed for photographs, and Serena William’s sea foam look included a ruched top that also cut a dramatic, long shape.
Other guests, including Lana del Rey, Nicole Scherzinger, Lauryn Hill, Charli XCX, Tyla and Amelia Gray Hamlin, also appeared in the silhouette — all before Rihanna even arrived.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
