Lady Gaga's Outfit At The Met Gala Featured 3 Dresses in 1, Lingerie, & A Whole Freaking Performance
We are not worthy of Lady Gaga's 2019 Met Gala look. Was it made by nimble-fingered aliens? Did elves also lend a hand in its creation? It's almost too otherworldly to have been made by humankind, but I suppose it ultimately all checks out. Seeing as Gaga is one of the hosts of Monday, May 6's fashion extravaganza (Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Gucci's Alessandro Michele will also be running the show), it was expected that she'd pull out all of the stops with her look. But this outfit goes beyond anything I could ever have imagined and I am thoroughly shook.
To say that Gaga has been having an incredible year would be an understatement. Thanks to her role as Ally in the 2018 remake of A Star Is Born, for which she wrote her hit song, "Shallow," she can now call herself a veritable Hollywood actress as well as one of the most influential women in music. ("Shallow" even won the Academy Award for best original song earlier this year.) If you've seen the movie, then you know just how powerful it is and how much Gaga brings it to life. The woman is absolutely unreal, so it makes sense she'd need a Met Gala Dress to match.
When Gaga took to the steps, the hot pink hue of her massive dress made the pink carpet look dull:
Oh my gosh. Designer Brandon Maxwell went above and beyond with this look, folks. The puffy sleeves, the endless train, the matching headpiece, the works! It felt like the perfect entrance to make, and #MetGaga immediately started trending on Twitter. However, she didn't stop there.
Like a true queen always ready to perform, Gaga unbuttoned her frock and revealed yet another stunning gown, complete with a matching black umbrella:
Of course, she had some assistance, by way of some male dancers dressed in suits that performed as they helped her change.
And then, underneath that, a second hot pink gown, with an old-school cell phone and jewel-encrusted sunnies to match:
This feels so Paris Hilton, so it's perfect for the camp theme. Honestly, the whole striptease performance is camp as heck. I stan a queen that did her research. She really nailed the theme!
Finally, she stripped down Drag Race-style into her skivvies, and everyone else decided to go home, because why bother competing with all this?
The stackable Russian dolls from my childhood couldn't even serve this many looks at once!
The theme of this year's event is camp, as in over-the-top and sometimes garish style, not as in roasting marshmallows and archery. Writer Susan Sontag's 1964 essay, Notes on 'Camp,' was the inspiration behind the theme and correlating Costume Institute exhibition. As explained on the Met Museum's website, the work "provides the framework for the exhibition, which examines how the elements of irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, and exaggeration are expressed in fashion." Irony. Humor. Parody. Theatricality. Exaggeration. Those words can all be used to described Gaga's approach to style, and they certainly came through once again in her look tonight.
TBH, with four looks in one, she's already secured the top four slots on every Best Dressed list:
She should also be on the Best Makeup list, if there is one:
Sarah Tanno, Gaga's go-to makeup artist, created the drag-inspired look using all Marc Jacobs Beauty, as per usual. To prep her skin, Tanno used the brand-new Youthquake Hydra-Full Retexturizing Gel Crème ($59, marcjacobsbeauty), so if you're wondering why she looks especially radiant despite the stress of the big day, there's your answer. The bold pink lip that survived all four outfit changes was a combination of the brand's Le Marc Liquid Lip Crayon in "Flaming-oh!" ($26, sephora) and the Enamored Hydrating Lip Gloss Stick in "Sweet Escape" ($28, sephora).
When viewed within the wholistic context of Gaga's fashion history, this look really isn't too much of an outlier, although the layered quick-changes did have me shook. The performer has shattered every notion of what constitutes a red carpet look time and time again, instead rocking outlandish garments (remember her meat dress?) that redefine formal cool.
Remember, for example, when she honored the late David Bowie by channeling Ziggy Stardust for her 2016 Grammys look?
Or when she looked like an IRL pygmy puff (where are my Harry Potter fans at?) at the 75th Venice Film Festival?
Admittedly, Gaga did rock relatively tamer looks to the Oscars and Grammys earlier this year (I die for her in the silver Celine dress below), so seeing her tap into her fearless sartorial side once again is a true treat.
Camp MVP? Definitely.
