Vintage Glamour At The Met Gala
This year’s Met Gala revealed an inseparable association between American fashion and vintage glamour.
Considered the biggest fashion event of the year, the highly-anticipated 2021 Met Gala was held on September 13th. The Gala is an annual fundraiser to support the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year’s exhibition, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, celebrates innovative American fashion designers and will be joined in 2022 by In America: An Anthology of Fashion. Gala attendees are granted early access to browse the exhibition curated by Andrew Bolton and are also asked to dress in honour of its theme.
As the event unfolded, the star-studded guest list revealed many interpretations of American fashion: one of the most popular being vintage style and “Old Hollywood.” Continue reading to discover how vintage glamour inspired stars on the Met Gala’s red carpet!
Marilyn Monroe
Perhaps the single most referenced fashion inspiration of the 2021 Met Gala was American actress and model Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962).
Earlier this year, Billie Eilish unveiled a major transformation in her appearance on the June 2021 cover of British Vogue. In a decision to explore her own identity, the young American pop star traded in her acid-green hair and baggy clothes for bleach-blonde locks and lingerie. Kelsey Stiegman at Seventeen commented that she looked “like a modern-age Marilyn Monroe.”
Eilish continued to channel Monroe at the Met Gala, which she co-chaired. Her hair was styled in a wispy blonde bob, and she wore a spectacular Oscar de la Renta ball gown complete with a fifteen-foot train.
According to the New York Times, during the design process, Oscar de la Renta was provided with reference images of 1950s Hollywood stars Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe. Particular inspiration for Eilish’s red carpet gown was the black tulle dress Monroe wore to the Oscars in 1951. Once inside the event, the singer changed into a dark red gown and matching cape, which Dena Giannini explained was inspired by Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955).
Marilyn Monroe’s classic Hollywood style was also directly referenced by Madison Beer. The American singer told Emma Chamberlain for Vogue: “We really wanted to do something inspired by paying homage to Marilyn Monroe and specifically her orange gown she wears in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It’s like my favourite gown of all time, and I really wanted someone who was gonna be able to do it exactly how I envisioned it, so we went with Patricia Voto who’s incredible.”
On the gown’s inspiration, Voto told InStyle, “Madison had a very clear direction from the outset — Old Hollywood. It felt right for the theme. We looked at images of Marylin Monroe, Veronica Lake, amongst others.”
Other Gala attendees that took style inspiration from Marilyn Monroe include Megan thee Stallion in Coach (referring to herself as “Megan Monroe”), Nicola Peltz wearing Valentino, and Chloe Fineman in Tory Burch.
Josephine Baker
For her dazzling Met Gala look, American model and actress Yara Shahidi wore a custom Dior gown in honour of the legendary entertainer Josephine Baker (1906 – 1975). The beaded gown was accessorized with opera-length gloves, a tulle veil, and a Cartier yellow diamond necklace.
Shahidi told Ilana Glazer for Vogue, “I really ended up going into the archives of Josephine Baker, who I so admire. And so, I’m honoured to be able to do a rendition of any kind.”
Born in Missouri, Baker first established herself as a chorus dancer in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and truly came to fame after moving to Paris in the late 1920s. Her talent and beauty have made her an immortal icon of the Roaring Twenties, or Les années folles in French.
Shahidi worked with stylist Jason Bolden and the team at Dior to create the look, researching archival photos of Baker. Bolden told Vogue: “The [photos] we loved most were from her American tour where she wore only Dior!” Indeed, there is a clear resemblance between Shahidi’s look and the Dior gown and gloves worn by Baker in a 1951 photograph.
(You can read “Josephine Baker and the Movies” by TVWM contributor Brian Karpas here!)
Audrey Hepburn
American model and socialite Kendall Jenner arrived at the Met Gala wearing a custom Givenchy gown inspired by Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993) in the 1964 film My Fair Lady. According to Matthew M. Williams, creative director of Givenchy, the gown required 2,500 hours of work over several months by thirty beaders.
Although Hepburn was a British-born actress, she skyrocketed to stardom through films by Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures, such as Roman Holiday (1953) and Sabrina (1954).
In a behind-the-scenes video for Vogue, Kendall explained, “I am wearing Givenchy by the incredible Matt Williams … it’s inspired by Audrey Hepburn’s look in My Fair Lady. She used to wear Givenchy in almost all of her movies, in a lot of her movies. She’s just the biggest legend. I’ve been obsessed with her my whole life.”
Williams added, “It’s just that connection between French couture and American cinema.”
Rita Hayworth and María Félix
Mexican actress and singer Eiza González wore a smouldering red Versace gown to the red carpet, featuring a beaded halter neckline and asymmetrical details. While the gown may be thoroughly modern, González channelled the Golden Age of Cinema into her presence on the red carpet.
González told Extra TV: “Well [Donatella Versace] created this beautiful dress and I just felt immediately old school glamour, Hollywood, Rita Hayworth, but … because I’m Mexican, I feel like the future of America is this melting pot of races so I brought a little bit of María Félix into it.”
Due to her Spanish heritage, actress Rita Hayworth (1918 – 1987) was originally typecast as an “exotic” foreigner. Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, the studio head of Hollywood’s Columbia Pictures persuaded her to adopt her mother’s maiden name, Hayworth, and alter her appearance to attract more roles. She became a top Hollywood star not long after, starring in films such as You’ll Never Get Rich (1941) and Gilda (1946).
Mexican actress María Félix (1914 – 2002) was among the most successful figures of Latin American cinema, starring in forty-seven films made in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy and Argentina from 1943 until the end of her life. She was known as “the most beautiful face in the history of Mexican cinema.”
Anna May Wong
English actress and model Gemma Chan wore a custom Prabal Gurung black sequin minidress with a jade-colored silk faille overskirt. The dress features a dragon, beaded with faux pearls and rhinestones, which was directly traced from a Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911) textile for a handscroll in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Chan’s fringe and braided hairstyle directly references a style worn by actress Anna May Wong (1905 – 1961) in the 1924 silent film The Thief of Bagdad.
Wong is considered the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star. Among her first credits are silent films, including The Toll of the Sea, and films from the early sound era such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937). Despite her talent and fame, Wong’s career in Hollywood was stunted by racist stereotypes and anti-miscegenation laws which prohibited her from most leading roles. In fact, although she was born in Los Angeles and was a third-generation American, Wong was considered a “perpetual foreigner” in the United States.
On her Instagram, Chan wrote that she was “Honoured to collaborate with this dream team to pay homage to the incomparable Anna May Wong,” and described Wong as “A trailblazer, fashion icon and woman ahead of her time – she paved the way for those who came after and continues to inspire.”
Hedy Lamarr
British actress Emily Blunt wore a glittering silver Miu Miu gown on the red carpet, accessorized with a white cape and celestial headpiece. The look embodies several elements of Americana, including the stars of the flag, the Statue of Liberty, and Old Hollywood Glamour.
Blunt’s hairstylist Laini Reeves told InStyle: “The beautiful glass raindrop-shape beaded dress and headpiece were like a modern twist on the Statue of Liberty.” She also added that it “was inspired by the iconic actress, Hedy Lamarr, who graced the silver screen in the 1940s with a similar star-studded headpiece.”
The costume being referenced is one designed by Hollywood costume designer Adrian (1903 – 1959) for Hedy Lamarr (1914 – 2000) in the 1941 musical film Ziegfeld Girl. The film is set in the 1920s and centres around the Ziegfeld Follies theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City.
(Read more about designs by Adrian from TVWM contributor Erin Schend here!)
“Old Hollywood Glamour”
Several Met Gala attendees drew inspiration from the spirit of Old Hollywood without directly referencing any specific stars.
For example, American actress Barbie Ferreira walked the red carpet wearing a pearl-encrusted concoction by Johnathan Simkhai. Ferreira told Keke Palmer for Vogue that her inspirations included “Burlesque, Americana, [and] kind of like Old Hollywood meets New Hollywood.” Simkhai added: “We collaborated on this. We wanted something that represents Old Hollywood but with diamonds and pearls and all the glam.”
Ferreira’s look was completed with pencil-thin eyebrows reminiscent of 1920s silent film stars. (Read more about eyebrow trends in film from TVWM contributor Erin Schend here!)
British actors and married couple Kit Harington and Rose Leslie arrived at similar inspiration for their Met Gala looks. Leslie told Palmer, “We were wanting to go for Art Deco but with a modern concept, and then we kind of decided to end with Old Hollywood Glamour. We were thinking that was a lovely nod to Americana.” Harington added, “As Brits, I think there’s this real love of everything 1950s America, Hollywood.”
The Zoot Suit
American model Precious Lee ended this year’s New York Fashion Week week by celebrating her birthday at the Met Gala. Lee wore a stunning custom suit-dress with braided crystal fringe by Area, which weighed “eighty-something” pounds and required four people to dress.
Lee told Ilana Glazer for Vogue, “I wanted to do something with a shoulder that was really strong to give homage to the Zoot Suit.” She explained, “I was so obsessed with the idea of the Zoot Suit. Just really thinking about the first time African American people were able to start to create their wardrobe and to … reinterpret style.”
The Zoot Suit was a voluminous, oversized style of suit worn in the United States during the 1940s by young, working-class men in minority communities. Heavily associated with the Black community, the Zoot Suit was also worn by immigrant communities including Mexican Americans, Italian Americans, Asian Americans, as well as Jewish Americans.
According to Lydia Edwards in her book How To Read A Suit, “The shoulders on men’s jackets may have been wide throughout the 1930s, but the zoot suit at the start of the 1940s took width to a whole new level.” Such a display of sartorial excess by racial minorities prompted not only social commentary and caricature but also the physical violence seen in the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots.
Vintage American Designers
In fitting with the theme of American Fashion, contemporary American fashion designers were largely represented at the Met Gala, including Thom Browne, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, and Micheal Kors. Yet some looks also paid homage to influential American fashion designers of the past.
American singer Ciara wore a Peter Dundas sequined gown inspired by her husband, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. The number three and the neon green colour referenced Wilson’s color rush jersey. Ciara accessorized the gown with her husband’s Super Bowl ring as well as a small, football-shaped clutch.
The striking green gown also had roots in 1960s fashion. Ciara happily told Emma Chamberlain for Vogue, “Peter Dundas made my dress … he was inspired by Geoffrey Beene, who has these really cool iconic jersey-inspired dresses — which actually, one is in the [Metropolitan Museum of Art] here.”
American fashion designer Geoffrey Beene (1924 – 2004) was an innovator in women’s fashion. He launched a line of sequined football jersey dresses in 1967, the same year in which he designed the wedding dress of Lynda Bird Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Ciara’s custom gown clearly resembles Beene’s original, but was adapted for the occasion with a glamorous train and revealing cutouts at the waist.
Another influential vintage American fashion designer present at the Met Gala was Claire McCardell (1905 – 1958), by way of Tory Burch. Burch was heavily inspired by McCardell’s legacy for her Spring 2022 Ready-To-Wear collection, which was shown at New York Fashion Week just one day before the Gala.
According to the Tory Burch website, the collection was “inspired by Claire McCardell’s ingenuity and her legacy of American sportswear which revolutionized the way women dress. She discarded the rules of what women should wear, instead problem-solving for the reality of their lives. Her designs instilled a sense of freedom, encouraging self-expression and empowered women with a casual elegance that is as relevant today as it was in the late 1940s.”
The designer also announced the establishment of the Tory Burch Claire McCardell Fashion Fellowship in partnership with the Maryland Center for History and Culture, where McCardell’s personal archives are housed.
Several stars sported custom McCardell-inspired Tory Burch, including American actress and comedian Chloe Fineman, American actress, comedian and screenwriter Mindy Kaling, and American and Norwegian actress and model Kristine Froseth.
