BOLD AND BONKERS – BUT AT LEAST THE MEN MADE AN EFFORT
Let’s hear it for the boys, because they’re shaking things up on the red carpet like never before, says Stephen Doig
What’s that noise? It’s the thrum of some sartorial snoring, because a Google Image search of Met Galas past is telling in just how stiff and stagnant men’s dress codes used to be. Here’s Cher in a feathered, crystal-dusted showgirl extravaganza, and the gown’s creator Bob Mackie beside her in black tie as if he’s attending a local Rotary Club dinner.
From Andy Warhol to Valentino, the most famous society gents have always played it safe in black tie. Men were little more than props for the ladies, same-same monochrome statuettes helping goddesses up those hallowed stairs.
This year, though, the black tie has been relegated to the back of the wardrobe and an anythinggoes approach prevails.
Monday night’s event could have been a staid affair – the theme “Gilded Glamour” lends itself to a rather mannered approach. Instead, the tailfeathers were well and truly shaking, because the men almost outshone the women in their razzmatazz and general sense of joyful expression.
First out of the starting gate were Jared Leto and Gucci designer Alessandro Michele, who wore matching cream embroidered tuxedos with pink bow ties, shades and matching tumbling tresses. The twins from The Shining, but make it fashion.
Granted, these two style experimentalists love to tread the path less familiar. Leto (whose “people” once asked that I refrain from moving or sipping water during an interview with the star in a blacked-out room) previously attended in a cherry red gown holding a rendering of his own head.
But it was an indication of how far men are willing to push boundaries today that even the most classic dressers upped the ante; as demonstrated by squeaky clean all-american guy Joe Jonas sporting a spliced up rendering of a morning suit courtesy of Louis Vuitton, with a lace “train” and sparkling vest.
Kudos too to 43-year old Oscar Isaac; at an age when most Hollywood actors are happy to disappear into the safety net of a classic black tuxedo, the Dune star has become synonymous with skirts, and did so to handsome effect in Thom Browne.
Likewise, 43-year old Succession star Jeremy Strong attended the Met Gala in a crushed velvet Thom Browne suit decorated with medallions and dangling scarf in lieu of a tie.
Even the most preppy-style freshmen have been dipping their toe into bolder waters; Euphoria actor Jacob Elordi wore a Burberry suit embellished with crystal renderings of the prancing horse emblem. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but it’s certainly more pronounced. There’s been a growing confidence and sense of fun in how men approach the red carpet in recent years: Harry Styles at a previous Met Gala in lace and pearls, Billy Porter as Nefertiti on acid. Even at the more staid Oscars, more men have been taking risks – remember Timothée Chalamet in that glittering suit sans shirt? Chalamet wasn’t in attendance this year, but there were plenty of pretenders to his sartorial throne. Young British actor Paapa Essiedu in a plush velvet suit by Off-white. Lenny Kravitz in a lace corset making for a mish-mash of gender stereotypes. Gossip Girl star Sebastian Stan in neon pink and Patrick Schwarzenegger in a peach Lanvin look straight from the OK Corral.
Political statements and the frothy finery of the Met Gala might seem like unlikely bedfellows, but sometimes it works – New York mayor Eric Adams wore a tux emblazoned with the words: “End gun violence.”
Tom Ford – who wore a morning suit of his own design to the gala and looked every inch the debonair matinée idol – recently complained about the silliness of the event: “[It] used to just be very chic people wearing very beautiful clothes … You didn’t have to dress like a hamburger.” Quite. That said, the experimental men of the Met are fast becoming a force to eclipse the leading ladies.