I love what Hailee Steinfeld wore to the Met Gala. It’s so very, very clear to me that to really kill it on the red carpet at this event, you need to have a sense of humour – which is ironic because Anna Wintour is the last person anyone thinks of as having one.
But if you’re going to get out in front of your theme, and do something more than just be pretty (which is pretty much the kiss of death at this event) or sexy or beautiful, you’ve got to have a sense of humor – and then you’ve got to be able to pull it off, which, see below, where Lupita Nyong’o is so good at that it’s almost a problem for her.
Hailee Steinfeld is punching above her weight class here. She kind of always has, but this is the best. It’s Victor & Rolf, a little-girl ball dress and the biggest little-girl hair bow, and a BIG ASS message saying ‘NO PICTURES’. At the most photograph-heavy event of the year, pretty much (okay fine the Oscars but they also have the actual televised element, so).
It’s so good. It’s so big, it’s so funny! It’s the extreme of what camp looks like in this situation, being a goody two-shoes who doesn’t at all want to court attention, and it’s perfectly on brand for Hailee who maybe doesn’t get enough credit for playing it safe.
But then – extreme is not a good enough word for what is happening with Ciara here.
I legitimately want to know what adjective was used to describe the volume and scope she wanted for her hair, for those combs. Look, I saw a sketch of the Peter Dundas dress somewhere online early on and I am a sucker for that green, so I knew it was going to be major – but that is a teeny, tiny, infinitesimal word for what is going on with the whole look and especially above the neck.
“Other-worldly”? “Planetary?” Did she sit down with her hairstylist and say, “I want it to look like it’s CGI and like the jeweled combs in the front of my hair with tassel pulls are actually going to hold all the secrets of the Temple of Doom?” I know I’m being a bit silly here but it’s coming from an honest place, I want to know what words I can use, sometime in my life, to get to where she is. Because I want to do things – career things, life things, outfit things – that are as epic as that hair, and all I can think is that ‘epic’ and ‘extreme’ and ‘outrageous’ are just… so inadequate.