Attending the Costume Institute Gala at the Met
Last week, I attended the annual Costume Institute Gala held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The gala celebrated the new exhibition, “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” and it was hosted by Carey Mulligan, Anna Wintour, Miuccia Prada herself, and honorary co-chair Jeff Bezos. Often referred to as “Fashion’s Oscars,” this party is always fun and colorful!
1 Tomas Maier, designer extraordinaire for Bottega Veneta, invited me to sit at his table at the fabulous Met Ball. I was wearing a Tomas Maier silk dress and carried a Bottega knot bag. Tomas was wearing a suit of own his creation.
2 This gala is referred to as 'fashion's Oscars' and there were hundreds of paparazzi. A large tent was erected over the front stairs of the Met and it was raining, which seems to be typical of the Gala.
3 Actress Sofia Vergara wore a stunning silver gown.
4 Actress Leighton Meester wore gold.
5 Actress Liv Tyler was very friendly. Harvey Weinstein to the right
6 Actress Emma Roberts on her phone
7 Actress Amy Adams, who wore Giambattista Valli attended the gala with him.
8 Giambattista Valli was wearing an amazing diamond and emerald brooch with pearls.
9 Lovely
10 Giancarlo Giammetti, Sarah Jessica Parker and Valentino Garavani
11 A beautiful beaded creation worn by Georgina Chapman, wife of Harvey Weinstein
12 The hosts of the evening - Vogue Editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, designer Miuccia Prada - Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Actress Carey Mulligan
13 The new exhibition at the Met is Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.
14 This exhibit compares and contrasts the work of two designers of different generations. I felt is was rather academic and somber.
15 Both of these designers were born in Italy, Schiaparelli in Rome in 1890, Prada in Milan in 1949.
16 Schiaparelli began designing her own clothes after moving to Paris and finding nothing that suited her tastes. Prada inherited the family luggage business and began designing bags, shoes, and clothing too.
17 Actress Eva Mendes looked radiant in orange Prada.
18 Tomas Maier and International editor of Vogue, Sandy Brant
19 Actor Max Minghella
20 Designer Marc Jacobs attended wearing a sheer black shirt over white boxer shorts. He also had on rhinestone buckled shoes over black socks.
21 Fashion muse Bianca Brandolini
22 Tomas Maier and Emily Rafferty, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
23 Peter Harf (right) - chairman of Coty came with his daughter, Katharina and friends.
24 Cocktails were held in the Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court and there were more than 800 in attendance.
25 Tom Ford looked handsome, as always.
26 Tomas Maier and Tom Ford
27 The Jonas Brothers - Nick, Kevin, and Joe
28 Tommy Hilfiger and wife Dee Ocleppo
29 Advertising executive Trey Laird, his wife Jenny, and Tomas Maier
30 Fashion editor Giovanna Battaglia and Tomas Maier
31 The back of model Coco Rocha
32 Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova and friend
33 Dinner was held inside the Temple of Dendur. The dining chairs were covered in classic Prada and Schiaparelli prints and the red banquets were in the shape of big lips.
34 The tables were decorated with silver bud vases of colorful anemones.
35 In homage to Schiaparelli's famous lobster-print dress, guests were served a first course of baby lobster and American caviar. Glorious Foods catered.
36 The plates, too, were classic classic Prada and Schiaparelli prints.
37 A famous butterfly
38 My place card
39 Calvin Klein holding court
40 The back of Anna Wintour, who wore a white fur cape, speaking with designer, Carolina Herrera
41 Julie Macklowe, Jessica Stam, and Chris Benz
42 A close look at Jessica Stam's amazing dress, which is a 2006 Christian Dior couture
43 Actresses Laura Carmichael and Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey, one of my favorite television shows
44 Michelle Dockery, Frédéric Fekkai, and Laura Carmichael
45 Anna Wintour and her daughter, Bee Shaffer
46 Summer Phoenix, Casey Affleck, and Mark Ruffalo
47 I was seated next to Mark Ruffalo, who is so excited about the popularity of his new film, The Avengers.
48 The main course was veal Milanese. This is designer, Thom Brown.
49 Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer and husband of Ivanka Trump
50 Former Denver Bronco and current New York Jet Tim Tebow
51 After dinner, Bruno Mars performed some of his own songs and covers by Sting, Michael Jackson, and Rick James.
52 Mars personalized his hit song, 'Just the Way You Are,' for Miuccia Prada, changing the lyrics to 'Miuccia, you're amazing. Just the way you are.'
53 Backless dresses and slick hair were de rigueur.
54 Red carpets and pink up-lights added a great deal of glamor to the Met.
55 My favorite dresses of the evening were the voluminous ball gowns.
56 Descending the stairs of the Met after a fabulous evening
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
I loved your understated elegance at this event, Martha. I especially loved your hair...you looked amazing just the way you are!
Posted by: Sherey | May 14th, 2012 at 1:32 am
It does look to be a rather somber exhibition, although the dresses make up for that! Hopefully the food was better.
Posted by: Pru @ Perfecting Pru | May 14th, 2012 at 2:48 am
Wow, what a great opportunity for people watching at the Costume Institute Gala at the Met! I bet the dresses looked even more amazing up close and in person than they do in the pictures. The men look very handsome dressed in their best, but I have to admit that although I am a fan of Marc Jacobs as a designer, I think he looks silly in the get-up he wore to the Gala! Needless to say Martha, you looked elegant, refined and beautiful and I agree with Sherey, your hair looked fantastic. I love the pop of color you added with the Bottega knot bag.
Posted by: Cindy F | May 14th, 2012 at 7:51 am
Hi Martha, Sure hope you, Alexis, Jude, and Truman had a fabulous Mother's Day on Sunday! Can't wait to see your blog with photos of all of your wonderful family! Thanks for another tweet about Alexis' blog post-I check it out a lot and it's elegant like yours is! Thanks to both of you! Is your website fixed yet! Had trouble signing in, especially on the blog page. You must have had a wonderful time attending the Costume Institute at the Met! You looked so happy in photos #1&47, absolutely gorgeous! Your hair was absolutely stunning! All of these photos are great, especially # 1, 20,35,37,47,&54! Can't wait to see you on The Talk Show today on CBS and hope you have a great day! Sure hope F,S,&GK are doing much better and will go check The Daily Wag! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | May 14th, 2012 at 10:11 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | May 14th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Hi Martha,
You go to some really interesting benefit parties! I happened upon this one online the other day when I was reading something else on Extra but they didn’t have quite as many pictures as you have here, except for the gowns. I’m always interested in seeing the attendees and you’re always accommodating in that respect as with Mark Ruffalo! Have always liked him and look forward to seeing him as the Hulk in the Avengers. Scarlett Johansson has also been making the rounds on the talk circuit and her part in the Avengers looks equally adventurous. I’m not really interested in fashion because I couldn’t afford anything anyway but it’s always nice to see what the designers have created. I think that is why I liked the Devil Wears Prada movie so much. I enjoyed seeing all of Meryl Streep’s outfits! Thanks for taking us to yet another wonderful event. Trish
Posted by: Trish | May 14th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Martha you look gorgeous, love your dress and hair style Tres Chic.
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | May 14th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Of course Martha is not star-struck at all! Looking really beautiful!
Posted by: daniel | May 14th, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Martha's hair and face look especially lovely at the Met Gala:)
Posted by: Gliena | May 14th, 2012 at 11:09 pm
... thank you for sharing these special events!
Posted by: Ginger | May 15th, 2012 at 12:36 am
Martha as usual you are the picture of perfection. No matter where...when you will outshine anyone without even trying. You are an inspiration and a gift to anyone who seeks the very best. Thank you for your generosity, always sharing with the world the gift that is just 'YOU"
Posted by: Jacqueline Greenberg | May 29th, 2012 at 9:44 pm