Some of the biggest names in fashion and the entertainment industry donned their best formal attire, including sweeping ball gowns and the white-tie-and-tails ensembles men were told to wear, at the 2014 Met Gala on Monday night (May 5).
Met Gala Red Carpet Photos: See Who The Stars Are Wearing
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Billboard can confirm a who’s who of musicians were in the house. Taylor Swift, Jay Z & Beyonce, Janelle Monae, Florence Welch and Frank Ocean were among those who walked the red carpet. Kanye West partnered up with Kim Kardashian, as did Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her husband, the former England soccer captain David.
Taylor got into the swing of things pre-show with her friend and model Karlie Kloss, and shared on Instagram a snap of the two getting their lipstick right.
The annual star-studded benefit this year also celebrated the opening of the new Anna Wintour Costume Center and its first exhibit, Charles James: Beyond Fashion. While stars like Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift stunned in voluminous gowns reminiscent of those James designed, others, like Olivia Munn, showed off sleeker interpretations of the style.
The “Newsroom” star told The Hollywood Reporter that her bright yellow dress, with its plunging neckline, was a collaboration between her stylist Micaela Erlanger and designer Diane Von Furstenberg.
Munn boasted that she loved wearing the comfortable, lightweight gown, but she wouldn’t get to enjoy it forever.
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When THR asked the actress about the first ball gown she owned, she mused, “I don’t think I’ve ever owned a ball gown — including now, I think this goes back anyways.”
J. Crew creative designer Jenna Lyons also dared to be different, showing off her interpretation of the white-tie-and-tails look men were told to wear.
Although she explained that her look had elements of James’ aesthetic, she decided she didn’t want to risk wearing a ball gown.
“I did my best to sort of have an ode to what would have been a translation,” Lyons said of her suit. “So that’s why the pants have a lot of volume to them and the duchess satin, which I thought was an important piece to it.”
She added: “I knew I was going to get stuck on the red carpet with someone’s heel on my gown if I wasn’t careful.”
Indeed, the James-esque voluminous skirts made walking up the Met steps a bit of a challenge, with several women seen dramatically lifting up their layers of fabric as they climbed the stairs.
One, Hayden Panettiere, proudly gathered up her skirt and quickly climbed the stairs, raising her arms triumphantly over her head when she reached the last landing before the Metropolitan Museum of Art entrance.
Sarah Silverman didn’t have as much of a handle on her dress, making somewhat of a grand show of the difficulty she was having walking in it.
When a reporter asked Silverman how her dress feels, she joked, “It feels like a f—ing second skin.”
Beyonce was “striking in a dark, sheer, sparkling Givenchy ensemble,” AP reports, while her husband Jay Z donned a white Givenchy tuxedo jacket, minus tails.
Kim Kardashian wore blue Lanvin with a very high slit in front, while AP notes the actress Idina Menzel “evoked her recent success voicing the movie ‘Frozen'” with an icy all-white white outfit with a feathery train by Donna Karan Atelier. Rihanna wore a sleek, midriff-baring McCartney piece, while Taylor Swift was unmissable in a de la Renta floor-length sheath with a train.