[caption id="attachment_5099" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5099" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Anna-Wintour-in-Chanel.jpg" alt="Anna Wintour in Chanel" width="450" height="683" /> <center>Anna Wintour in Chanel</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Hollywood stars and New York socialites decked out in the very fanciest of <a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/occasions/plus-size-formal-dresses/" target="_blank">formal dresses</a> walked the red carpet at the 2014 Met Gala Monday night posing for pictures in everything from tight white pants to flowing ball gowns. </span><!--more--></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">The evening honored Anna Wintour, the long-standing editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine, whose name now graces the Met's legendary Costume Center. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Ms. Wintour, who hosts the event each year, picked a theme of </span>"White Tie and Decorations" for the 2014 bash that celebrated the opening of the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museume of Art (or simply "Met" to New Yorkers!)</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">I have to admit that I didn't know James' fashion legacy until all the fuss over the opening of his exhibition that coincided with the Gala. James is a British-born designer who has earned the title "Amercia's First Couturier. In the mid-20th century James designed sumptuous ball gowns in highly-structured styles that high society ladies wore with petticoats,<a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/glamour/gloves/" target="_blank"> evening gloves</a>, up-dos and red lipstick. James died in 1978.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Ms. Wintour's dress code memo clearly made a big fashion impact on several A-list guests who paid tribute to James in vintage-inspired evening gowns with a nod to an era when "casual Fridays" didn't exist.</span></p>
[caption id="attachment_5102" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5102" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Sarah-Jessica-Parker.jpg" alt="Sarah Jessica Parker" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Sarah Jessica Parker</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">Cameras couldn't stop clicking when Sarah Jessica Parker, co-host of the event, arrived in a dramatic black and white ball gown. There was never any question about who designed Ms. Parker's evening dress. Oscar de la Renta's logo, in red, was scrawled in script across the sweep train for all to see. And you just had to catch yourself asking if that was Carrie Bradshaw or SJP making a grand entrance.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">In a nod to the evening theme, black and white dominated the red carpet. </span>I spotted the timeless and elegant color choice of black with white - or white with black - on:</p>
<ul>
<li>Diane Von Furstenburg in a flowing gown by Stellar McCartney</li>
<li>Deborra-Lee Furness (Hugh Jackson's wife) in a fabulous floor-lengthy jacket with a rolled white satin collar.</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_5100" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5100" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Hugh-Jackman-and-Deborra-Lee-Furness.jpg" alt="Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness</center>[/caption]
<ul>
<li>Zoe Saldana in a Michael Kors black cashmere halter bodysuit with a risk-taking black and white print skirt that ballooned above the knee.</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_5103" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5103" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Zoe-Saldana-and-Michael-Kors.jpg" alt="Zoe Saldana and Michael Kors" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Zoe Saldana and Michael Kors</center>[/caption]
<ul>
<li>Charlize Theron in a mostly white with black accent Dior gown. A powerfully understated dress!</li>
<li>Hailee Steinfeld in an open back satin gown by Prabal Gurung with deep pockets in the black and white skirt. (Wonder if she stashed a cell phone in there?)</li>
</ul>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 12.0pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Singer Rihanna stuck wore Stellar McCartney. But she broke the black- and- white trend in favor of a white cropped top with rhinestone collar and and matching curve-hugging long skirt. Very sophisticated and stunning! So did Victoria Beckham wearing a white sheath formal from her namesake collection. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">But apparently everyone didn't get the fashion memo Wintour issued. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Cara Deleviigne dressed up in tight white pants and a black cropped, cut-out bandeau top that dared to bare it all. Her outfit, by Stella McCartney, (<em>are you noticing a trend here with British Designer!!!</em>) look better suited for a garden party in Los Angeles as opposed to the annual haute couture event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York's swanky Fifth Avenue. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Lena Dunham's black frock with pink and blue embroidered flowers didn't rock - at all. The Giambattista Vallie Haute Couture design looked more like a<a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/glamour/high-low-prom-dresses/" target="_blank"> high-low Prom dress</a>. </span></p>
[caption id="attachment_5101" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5101" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Lena-Dunham-Josh-Haner-The-New-York-Times.jpg" alt="Lena Dunham" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Lena Dunham</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">The dress code memo didn't just go out to the women on the guest list. Ms. Wintour invited the men escorting the ladies to wear the most formal attire: black tails, a waistcoat and a wing-collared shirt with a white bowtie. To complete the head-to-toe look she suggested patent leather evening pumps with sheer silk socks.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;"> Just in case you're wondering, it set you back $25,000 a person to attend what many consider to be the year's most glam fashion event! That's $10,000 more than last year. Any guess on how high the price tag will go to attend the 2015 Metropolitan Museum, of Art Costume Institute Benefit?</span></p>
<pre style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><em><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;"> Photo Credit Josh Haner The New York Times</span></em></pre>
[caption id="attachment_5099" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5099" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Anna-Wintour-in-Chanel.jpg" alt="Anna Wintour in Chanel" width="450" height="683" /> <center>Anna Wintour in Chanel</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Hollywood stars and New York socialites decked out in the very fanciest of <a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/occasions/plus-size-formal-dresses/" target="_blank">formal dresses</a> walked the red carpet at the 2014 Met Gala Monday night posing for pictures in everything from tight white pants to flowing ball gowns. </span><!--more--></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">The evening honored Anna Wintour, the long-standing editor-in-chief of American Vogue magazine, whose name now graces the Met's legendary Costume Center. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Ms. Wintour, who hosts the event each year, picked a theme of </span>"White Tie and Decorations" for the 2014 bash that celebrated the opening of the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museume of Art (or simply "Met" to New Yorkers!)</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">I have to admit that I didn't know James' fashion legacy until all the fuss over the opening of his exhibition that coincided with the Gala. James is a British-born designer who has earned the title "Amercia's First Couturier. In the mid-20th century James designed sumptuous ball gowns in highly-structured styles that high society ladies wore with petticoats,<a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/glamour/gloves/" target="_blank"> evening gloves</a>, up-dos and red lipstick. James died in 1978.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Ms. Wintour's dress code memo clearly made a big fashion impact on several A-list guests who paid tribute to James in vintage-inspired evening gowns with a nod to an era when "casual Fridays" didn't exist.</span></p>
[caption id="attachment_5102" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5102" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Sarah-Jessica-Parker.jpg" alt="Sarah Jessica Parker" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Sarah Jessica Parker</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">Cameras couldn't stop clicking when Sarah Jessica Parker, co-host of the event, arrived in a dramatic black and white ball gown. There was never any question about who designed Ms. Parker's evening dress. Oscar de la Renta's logo, in red, was scrawled in script across the sweep train for all to see. And you just had to catch yourself asking if that was Carrie Bradshaw or SJP making a grand entrance.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">In a nod to the evening theme, black and white dominated the red carpet. </span>I spotted the timeless and elegant color choice of black with white - or white with black - on:</p>
<ul>
<li>Diane Von Furstenburg in a flowing gown by Stellar McCartney</li>
<li>Deborra-Lee Furness (Hugh Jackson's wife) in a fabulous floor-lengthy jacket with a rolled white satin collar.</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_5100" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5100" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Hugh-Jackman-and-Deborra-Lee-Furness.jpg" alt="Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness</center>[/caption]
<ul>
<li>Zoe Saldana in a Michael Kors black cashmere halter bodysuit with a risk-taking black and white print skirt that ballooned above the knee.</li>
</ul>
[caption id="attachment_5103" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5103" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Zoe-Saldana-and-Michael-Kors.jpg" alt="Zoe Saldana and Michael Kors" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Zoe Saldana and Michael Kors</center>[/caption]
<ul>
<li>Charlize Theron in a mostly white with black accent Dior gown. A powerfully understated dress!</li>
<li>Hailee Steinfeld in an open back satin gown by Prabal Gurung with deep pockets in the black and white skirt. (Wonder if she stashed a cell phone in there?)</li>
</ul>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 12.0pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Singer Rihanna stuck wore Stellar McCartney. But she broke the black- and- white trend in favor of a white cropped top with rhinestone collar and and matching curve-hugging long skirt. Very sophisticated and stunning! So did Victoria Beckham wearing a white sheath formal from her namesake collection. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">But apparently everyone didn't get the fashion memo Wintour issued. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Cara Deleviigne dressed up in tight white pants and a black cropped, cut-out bandeau top that dared to bare it all. Her outfit, by Stella McCartney, (<em>are you noticing a trend here with British Designer!!!</em>) look better suited for a garden party in Los Angeles as opposed to the annual haute couture event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York's swanky Fifth Avenue. </span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;">Lena Dunham's black frock with pink and blue embroidered flowers didn't rock - at all. The Giambattista Vallie Haute Couture design looked more like a<a href="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/glamour/high-low-prom-dresses/" target="_blank"> high-low Prom dress</a>. </span></p>
[caption id="attachment_5101" align="aligncenter" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-5101" src="http://www.sydneyscloset.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Lena-Dunham-Josh-Haner-The-New-York-Times.jpg" alt="Lena Dunham" width="450" height="675" /> <center>Lena Dunham</center>[/caption]
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;">The dress code memo didn't just go out to the women on the guest list. Ms. Wintour invited the men escorting the ladies to wear the most formal attire: black tails, a waistcoat and a wing-collared shirt with a white bowtie. To complete the head-to-toe look she suggested patent leather evening pumps with sheer silk socks.</p>
<p style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;"> Just in case you're wondering, it set you back $25,000 a person to attend what many consider to be the year's most glam fashion event! That's $10,000 more than last year. Any guess on how high the price tag will go to attend the 2015 Metropolitan Museum, of Art Costume Institute Benefit?</span></p>
<pre style="line-height: 18.75pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt 0in;"><em><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: black;"> Photo Credit Josh Haner The New York Times</span></em></pre>