The Met 2013 Punk: Chaos to Couture Gala - Part I

Of course I just wrote about not being able to finish a post and here I am with one started on the same day!

I normally don't cover things like this, but after checking out the coverage on all my bookmarked entertainment/ fashion sites (Tom & Lorenzo, Go Fug Yourself, The Daily Mail UK*) I wanted to blog this. I was bothered that all the sites wrote how most attendees of the Metropolitan Museum's Punk: Chaos to Couture gala "got punk wrong." I have to admit it did seem many got confused and actually thought the theme was Goth to Couture because following that criteria there would have been loads of hands-down winners, but still:

1. The exhibit (May 9 to August 14, 2013) is titled Punk: Chaos to Couture and it's goal is to "examine punk’s impact on high fashion from the movement’s birth in the 1970s through its continuing influence today." Which basically involves borrowing certain visual elements, hardware, and shapes while also juxtaposing the punk DIY aesthetic versus couture's made-to-measure practice; anti-establishment versus elite establishment.
2. Dressing according to the theme of the Met's events is and has always been optional. It's a chance to dress up, period.
3. I believe the essence of Punk was/is unconventionality and irreverence not just safety pins, leather, Doc Martens, and ripped fishnets. Those elements are punk "shorthand". 
4. Having not been a punk (I was into New Wave, thankyouverymuch) I wouldn't dare to make a statement on what exactly "a punk" looks like. For starters, English punk and American punk had cultural differences and big city punk was also different from small city suburban punk.

Some fashion websites participated in either awarding participants for including those shorthand elements while also deriding others for incorporating some of those same elements. My favorites among the one's you may have seen were January Jones, Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway, Miley Cyrus, Ginnifer Goodwin, Carey Mulligan, Hailee Steinfeld, Debbie Harry, and believe it or not, Taylor Swift. Personally, what I noticed was  people who either got it near-perfect by showing what punk has become or instead incorporated some irreverence while still following the basic rules for gala wear. Here are some examples you may not have seen that I found through other sites. Definitely check out the image links at the bottom of the post. I hope you enjoy/appreciate these as much as I did.

Designer Donatella Versace in Versace

 

Emma Roberts in a subtle Diane Von Furstenberg



Designer Zandra Rhodes in her own design



Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga

Lele Sobieski in Christian Dior



Kerry Washington and Vera Wang in Vera Wang



Aubrey Plaza in Marios Schwab


Totally not on theme, but this next one is just plain gorgeous! What else would you expect from Isabella Rossellini's daughter and Ingrid Bergman's granddaughter?

Elettra Weideman in Prabal Gurung

Images: Style.com, Vogue.com, Stylesnooperdan.com, InStyle.com