Ain’t nobody fresher than my #MetGala clique

MANILA, Philippines - The “Fashion Oscars,” the “Super Bowl of Fashion,” or simply the #MetGala — the Anna Wintour Costume Center (formerly known as the Metropolitan Costume Institute) launched the exhibit “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” at its annual museum fundraiser, the Met Ball. The storied retrospective features Charles James, mid-century American couturier and designer to the stars. His body of work claims both structure and volume as signatures, a corseted waist commonly affixed to a capacious ball skirt or yards and yards of silk duchesse satin billowing over a basket of hard tulle. In a nutshell, the category is? #EveningEleganza.

New York-based designers Oscar de la Renta and Zac Posen, known for their formal aesthetic, brought it home as celebrity and industry favorites. Labels from across the pond, Stella McCartney and Prada, were well-represented with A-list flocks of their own. This year’s Chanel-clad Anna Wintour had given her curated guest list the opportunity to go big. In some cases, really big — it was a straight-up battle of pouf, hemlines and trains of epic proportion. The classic nature of the theme is practically a runway-ready no-brainer. But as with many a Met Ball before, the dress code is like a formality that guests with $25,000 tickets may choose to eschew. It is the fashion event of the year, after all — if one wants to let their fashion freak flag fly and go all-out guns blazing, the momentousness of the Metropolitan red carpeted steps dwarfs all others.

But where was industry stalwart Camilla Belle? The omnipresent purveyor of chic Kelly Osbourne? Surely they had no prior commitments. Could it have been an eyebrow appointment gone awry? One does wonder… But alas at the end of the night, the shoe had not dropped for many of the attendees from previous years. According to industry gossip, the guest list was made significantly tighter this year; presumably in hopes of making space for all those voluminous ball gowns. Sorry, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, but the fashion fat has been rendered. Paired with the fact that seats to the ball were made much more expensive, YStyle posits the question: If, given the chance to make it through security with nary a hair out of place, whose style and seat would you cop? We’ve done you the favor of lumping together our #MetGala best- and worst-dressed in cliques and crews; all you have to do is choose — apropos, avant-garde or janked up.

As you grab your rightful place alongside your new A-list BFFs, wave to the lowly onlookers and whisper to yourself, You can’t sit with us!

The Debutantes

True to the spirit of Charles James (and the looming specter of Mama Wintour), our best-dressed table adhered to the dress code but still managed to deliver fashion moments, full-stop; a combination of exquisite style, a Jamesian sensibility and contemporary grandeur. A physical manifestation of Cecil Beaton’s original photograph “Debutantes” thrust into the modern age. Charlize Theron looked resplendent in a Dior gown and men’s tailored jacket, winning best in architecturally cut curves. Hailee Steinfeld channeled evening sportif in Prabal Gurung, inspired by James’ iconic Clover Leaf ball gown. Karolina Kurkova in a deftly structured Marchesa, with flowers hand-painted in a decadent show of craftsmanship. Co-chair and Met Ball veteran Sarah Jessica Parker in a cheeky autographed ball gown by Oscar dela Renta. It-Brit Suki Waterhouse brought the fash-pack to tiers in a blush Burberry gown.

The It Girls

If there was one utterly covetable table at the Met Ball that night, it would have likely belonged to British designer Stella McCartney. McCartney took the role of Queen Bee, ushered her bevy of It Girls to the fore and delivered Capital F Fashion to the Met steps. It was a well-orchestrated plan only a woman of sufficient clout could execute — from the makeup chair to the photographic blitzkrieg on the red carpet. Stella being Stella, a primping all-girl party at the Carlyle next door was only the beginning of the ultimate GNO.  Stella McCartney led the charge for the “women who wear pants on the red carpet” trend, effortless in her own design. Cara Delevingne was styled to perfection in a cropped top and trousers, her tousled blonde locks employed to great effect. Kate Bosworth looking extremely svelte in a gorgeous blush peek-a-boo gown; one wonders if she’s had a good lunch since Blue Crush. Yikes. Rihanna is a total vision in white, replete with statement shoulder and bare midriff. First time Met Ball attendee Reese Witherspoon (a fact cattily relayed to us by Kate Bosworth via video on Vogue.com) is arrestingly sleek in a modified sweetheart gown, charming in pink but with the right amount of edge. As a five-some, Stella’s girls hit the nail on the head.

Fantasy Island

Miuccia Prada is an enigma — a maximal minimalist, an austere classic. Season after season, she fashions wave after wave of subliminal prêt-à-porter collections that defy convention and genre, but always sets the tone for what is to become maximum cool. Her taste is unerring to a fault, or at the very least, inevitable. As a champion of comfortable luxury, Prada sent down her chosen flock in looks that outright rejected Mama Wintour’s ball gown prescription. We witness a real-time manifestation of one of Miuccia’s #RealFantasies, to divisive results. Lupita Nyong’o set off a seismic level of Internet reaction in choosing her bejeweled flapper-esque chainmail dress. Feathers not sold separately, a few accessories nixed here or there would have saved this look from Page 6. Glee’s Dianna Agron wore an embellished Art Deco dress from Miu Miu. Brie Larson chose a playful gilded brocade long top and trouser combination, something (her co-signed hair choice) tells us she’s in on the joke. Stacy Martin and Margot Robbie in classic Prada separates, sheer tops and brocade skirts.  Taken as individuals, the looks are disjointed and misunderstood. But taken together as the venerable Army of Prada, a sense of cohesion comes into play. Is it a mere cheerleader effect? Or does the isle of Miuccia Prada gain traction in numbers?

Power Couples

What’s the hottest accessory on the red carpet? #ManCandy of course! Preferably the kind that doesn’t leave you hanging at the after party. The Met Ball had its fair share of well-dressed couples, the best of which, we sat together.  British power couple David and Victoria Beckham arrived in Ralph Lauren and her own namesake design, visions in white but not-quite-white tie. Jay-Z and Beyoncé upheld the status quo, both wearing Givenchy. Kim Kardashian, in a bid to disassociate herself from last year’s upholstered disaster, chose a petrol blue Lanvin silk dress. Kanye West was Mama Wintour-approved in white tie, also wearing Lanvin. Met Ball mainstays Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen wore Tom Ford and Balenciaga respectively. Blake Lively made a glorious return to form in Gucci; she played the part of a golden goddess replete with perfectly coiffed blonde tresses, arm in arm with regulation hottie boyfriend Ryan Reynolds, also wearing Gucci. The twosome made for the best dressed couple that evening.

Bad Girlz Club

Much can be said about the perks of being a rule breaker.  Or in simply declining the dress code — it is the Met Ball after all and we deserve #Fashion! It bears repeating. Uniformity has its place but being sartorially obstreperous makes things all the more exciting. The gaggle of women in the Bad Girlz Club don’t know all of the rules but they possess enough finesse to break them, to breathtakingly deviant results. Lena Dunham was a charming surprise in a mullet Giambattista Valli dress, her most flattering silhouette yet! J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons wore an interpretation of the menswear dictum “white tie and decorations,” beyond chic. Ashley Olsen in a military-inspired vintage Gianfranco Ferré and Mary-Kate Olsen in a striped sheer vintage Chanel, effortless and stylized to a tee. Janelle Monae cut a mean silhouette in a Tadashi Shoji pant and floor-length cape combination. Of the original crop of independent women, Erykah Badu took no prisoners in a Givenchy statement hat and overcoat. 

Park Avenue Royalty

Zac Posen’s sample-size lineup of uptown doyennes is giving us major #FlashbackFriday to the good old days of Socialite Rank and Park Avenue Peerage; ye olde breeding ground for maligned socialites turned fashion favorites like Olivia Palermo and Tinsley Mortimer. Posen is no stranger to the needs of the lavish set and the Met Ball’s Jamesian dictum of voluminous ball gowns found purchase in his repertoire. His girls stole the show. Arizona Muse was one of the best dressed in a soft red strapless ball gown. In a sea of rumpled trains and skirts, she held court, soignée until the end. Muse Dita Von Teese arrived as Posen’s date, dressed in a gown inspired directly by the celebrated designer Charles James himself. Models Karen Elson and Liu Wen were consummate debutantes in jewel toned ball gowns. Maggie Q chose an Elizabethan-inspired black T-shirt gown, not bad but not great either.

Sleek Standouts

The Jamesian aesthetic is structured decadence — gowns that possess a theatrical sense of drama. Clothes that command your attention, and more often than not, your physical space.  Who knew that standing out would be easier in something more columnar rather than colossal in silhouette? In a sea of blaring hoop skirts, who wouldn’t gravitate toward a disarmingly minimal sheathe? Rachel McAdams in a sumptuous blush strapless shift from Ralph Lauren, the perfect palate cleanser. Anna Kendrick in J. Mendel, in pitch perfect command of the night’s cropped top trend in silk taffeta. Anne Hathaway was tempered severity in the Calvin Klein Collection. Pretty in pink Emma Stone in color-blocked separates by Thakoon, effortlessly cool in a fishtail braid. Kirsten Dunst breaks the formula in a Star Wars-inspired Rodarte, a day shy of May 4 but not a lick shy of astronomical chic. 

The Menfolk

For this edition of the Met Ball, the sartorial dictum for men was not quite as clear cut. The museum board had called for “white tie and decorations” or full evening regalia, the highest echelon of formal wear. A look quite reminiscent of the waistcoat and tails worn in Downton Abbey, but the “decorations” part could be anyone’s guess. Sorry, Jay-Z and David Beckham, but a white dinner jacket does not a white tie dress code make. So who managed to make Mama Wintour proud? Naturally, designer Tom Ford was leagues ahead of the pack in a silk waistcoat of his own design. Up-and-coming British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne shone resplendent in white tie and tails, both wearing Tom Ford. Chiwetel Ejiofor looked delightfully dapper in white tie. John Legend wins most handsome wearing a decorated Ralph Lauren waistcoat and tails look.

The Misfits

As with any red carpet event, the clunkers always come out of the woodwork. We’ve done the Met Ball a supreme favor by lumping all of the undesirables to sit at one table. Husbands Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka puzzled in custom Thom Browne. Between the not-so subtle guyliner and the thick cummerbunds, the couple looked ready to launch a Ringling Bros. Franchise. Katie Holmes wins “worst” in Marchesa, bedraggled, busted and beyond. Certified #ManCandy and Met Gala Co-Chair Bradley Cooper wore a Tom Ford ensemble three sizes too small. In a literal interpretation of the term “gorilla suit,” the timing could have been better for B.Coop to beef up for an upcoming role. But woof, we’d still hit it — sorry, best dressed Suki Waterhouse. Just be thankful you arrived at separate times. Model Kate Upton disappoints in a Dolce & Gabbana hot mess; she looks like a buxom wench tasked to do the laundry in a vintage saloon Western. A veritable tragedy. And finally, worst dressed Rita Ora serves nude underpants beneath a Carolina’s Couture explosion of sequins and tulle, incepted by Donna Karan Atelier. Who do we hate the most?