The steps leading up to the front entrance of the Metropolitan Museum in New York are always busy, but are probably rarely so photographed as they are on the evening of the annual fund-raising gala in support of its Costume Institute. That was doubly true last month, when the Met Gala attracted extra column inches thanks to its theme, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” Was it intriguing and inspirational, or trivialising and offensive?<\/p>\n
The frisson of controversy ensured that social media lit up as the first red carpet photos appeared online\u2014that and the elaborate celebrity outfits. Madonna appeared in a Gothic take on Sicilian widow’s weeds<\/a>, Jared Leto channelled a louche version of Jesus Christ, Superstar<\/i><\/a> which honestly wasn’t so far from his everyday dress sense, while Chadwick Boseman was attired as a particularly suave pope<\/a>. Others came as angels, or Byzantine icons, or Sistine Chapel ceilings.<\/p>\n The looks attracted amusement, admiration, and criticism. Olivia Munn’s clumsy description of her gold mail dress (“\u2026inspired by the Crusades. I love this dress”<\/a>) was thought distasteful by some, while Piers Morgan claimed to be offended<\/a> by the entire event. (Well, Piers would<\/em>, wouldn’t he.) More interesting conversations, however, centred on the (art) historical references in the attendees’ attire, like Rihanna’s boldly irreverent spin on papal attire, or Zendaya’s silvery dress and severe pageboy hairstyle which echoed nineteenth-century takes on Joan of Arc.<\/p>\n Albert Lynch, \u2018Jeanne D\u2019Arc\u2019, c. 1903 \/\/ Zendaya at The Met Ball, c.2018 pic.twitter.com\/ooUWbcaMJV<\/a><\/p>\n — TabloidArtHistory (@TabloidArtHist) May 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n