Once upon a time, a ticket to the MET Costume Institute Ball cost $ 50, which granted one access to a small, tasteful party attended by the cream of New York society.
Today, tickets cost $ 30,000 and no one gets in for free.
It’s a sh** show, led by Kim Kardashian and the millennials she works so hard to keep up with.
The event has been put on since 1946, but it was only in 1995, when Vogue editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour stepped in, did the media start paying attention.
“There was some point when the celebrities started to take over from the models — 2005, 2007,” former publicist Paul Wilmot told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Anna’s instincts were good: making sure the stars were dressed, that no one has ever gone for free, they’re always guests of somebody who paid.
“And the billions of impressions: This is big content, all these summer movie releases, everything is timed. There is an allure: This is the moment to go into character. It’s a theatrical fete, you won’t get a better set in the world.”
Wintour greets guests at the top of the Met stairs, and her approval of your outfit is easily deciphered.
“You get to the top of those stairs, where Anna greets everyone, and it’s like you’re being greeted by the queen of England,” veteran publicist Patty Siegel told THR.
“If she isn’t smiling, it means she doesn’t love your dress.”
In 1996, the late Princess of Wales attended with the late magazine editor, Liz Tilburis, who co-chaired that year’s event.
Diana’s appearance lent even more credibility to the gala, which was becoming more mainstream.
Then, in 2013, Kim Kardashian made her debut at the ball in custom-made Givenchy.
That same year, Gwyneth Paltrow, who has attended 5 of the galas since 1999, declared that the magic had left the museum.
“I’m never going again. It was so un-fun,” Paltrow told USA Today. “It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all.”
Paltrow went into further detail with Australia radio hosts Kylie and Jackie O, ensuring her removal from the guest list indefinitely.
“Do you want me to be honest? It sucked,” Paltrow admitted.
“It seems like the best thing in the world. You think, ‘Oh my god, it’s going to be so glamorous and amazing, and you’re going to see all these famous people.’
“And then you get there, and it’s so hot, and so crowded, and everyone’s pushing you.
“This year it was really intense. It wasn’t fun! Kanye West was playing, and he was furious, and he threw his microphone down. It was all drama! I don’t know why he was furious.
“And everyone was dressed in punk … and I feel that we’re all a bit old to be dressed punk, you know what I mean? I didn’t. I just went kind of normal…”
Since then, West’s wife has done what she’s always done best: promote the heck out of herself getting ready for/arriving at/enjoying herself inside the museum, a once-sacred enclosure shrouded in mystery.
We used to ask ourselves, “What are all the fancy people drinking? What do they do in there? Do they eat their meal? WHAT EXACTLY DOES A $ 30,000 TICKET GET YOU?”
Now, we just look at Kim Kardashian or Kendall Jenner’s Snapchat/Instagram to see how they’re (for lack of a better word) cheapening what was once considered the most glamorous night of the year.
In fact, Kardashian wants to have her family’s Christmas picture taken on the steps of the Met.
“I feel like we should all go together and all wear the same designer and all have our looks be like our family’s Christmas card,” Kardashian told her younger sister, Kendall in a Vogue video promoting the gala.
“And we should actually use our Met picture on the stairs as our family Christmas card since we never have time anymore to take photos.”
People I’d rather see at tonight’s gala: British Vogue‘s Alexandra Shulman (responsible for landing Kate Middleton on the cover of June’s issue), Amal Clooney, Allison Williams, and Alicia Vikander, to name a few.
These women represent celebrities who are discreet, subtle in their star power and not concerned with texting at their table (yes, the Kardashians did that last year).
NO REALITY TV STARS.
I like my Kardashians on the small screen, where I can binge on episodes in my PJs. I have no use for them at an event such as this.
Also, if Sarah Ferguson, Disgraced Duchess of York, shows up, I’m picking up and moving somewhere that doesn’t have wifi, and starting a vegetable garden. If you need me, please send word via carrier pigeon.
Seeing Fergie at an event of this caliber will most definitely do me in.