I Can't Believe Amanda Gorman Invented The Color Blue At The Met Gala
She does not miss.
When you throw a poet on the red carpet, you can expect that look to have meaning, honey. Amanda Gorman’s 2021 Met Gala look did not shy away from creating a whole mood. The writer and activist was also a co-chair of the Met Gala this year, alongside other stars (all under the age of 25), such as Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, and Naomi Osaka.
Gorman rose to the next level of fame after performing her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at the 2021 presidential inauguration for Joe Biden. Since then, she’s single-handedly revived American poetry for the masses (at least that’s the story I’m sticking with). For her Met Gala look, Gorman was dressed by Vera Wang, with a blue color so stunning you can’t look away from it.
Gorman explained that her look for the evening was a sort of reimagined Statue of Liberty, fit for the Met Gala. Her gown featured over 3,000 hand-sewn crystals that Wang added to make Gorman look like a “starry night sky” in the ensemble. It’s a perfect nod to the theme for this year’s gala: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Gorman told reporters on the red carpet that to her, the Met Gala was a night for Americans to “come together as a country and celebrate what makes us beautiful.”
To top off the look, Gorman wore crystal hair clips reminiscent of a laurel wreath to round out those Lady Liberty vibes. The clips acted as a sort of regal crown, while still giving her cascading braid room to shine through. Matching diamond earrings and a dust of crystals on her face completed the “starry night” look.
But the accessory that helped Gorman’s personality shine through was the statement handbag shaped like a book emblazoned with the words: “Give Us Your Tired,” which is the first line of the poem that’s etched into the Statue of Liberty herself written by Emma Lazarus. If you do one thing after the fashion dust from the Met Gala settles, it should be to look up the beautiful words to that sonnet and reflect on what it means to you. Amanda Gorman says you should read poetry, so go read poetry, gosh darnit!
