It's the date every fashion person has circled in thick red pen: the first Monday in May. The 2024 Met Gala is almost here, and we know you have some burning questions regarding fashion's Super Bowl. Read on for everything you need to know. Be sure to check back on WhoWhatWear.com and our Instagram and TikTok accounts for our comprehensive fashion-and-beauty coverage. We have special plans that we can't wait to share with our readers.
When is the 2024 Met Gala?
The Met Gala will be held on Monday, May 6, 2024, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. You can stream Vogue's red carpet coverage beginning at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET.
What is the theme of the exhibition?
This year's exhibition is titled Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. Designed to appeal to all five senses, the exhibition will give new life to 250 rare and often delicate items, many of which have never been seen in public before. The connecting theme is nature. Specifically, the exhibition will be divided into three categories: land, sea, and sky. Items on display include a 1600s British waistcoat with intricate floral embroidery, a Philip Treacy upside-down rose headpiece, a butterfly dress by Alexander McQueen, and more.
What is the 2024 Met Gala dress code?
The 2024 Met Gala dress code is The Garden of Time, inspired by a 1962 short story of the same name by J. G. Ballard. First, I'll talk about some practical applications of the dress code, and then I'll get into the nitty-gritty of what the short story is about.
The most popular interpretation of the dress code will no doubt be florals, but the short story also covers the themes of the passage of time and fleeting beauty. However, many guests may choose to be inspired by the exhibition rather than the short story. In this case, expect to see outfits inspired by the three categories: land, sea, and sky. Motifs that come to mind include trees, birds, butterflies, insects, dirt, shells, water, clouds, and rain.
If you're interested in the short story that inspired the theme, here's my quick recap. It's about Count Axel and a countess who live in a beautiful villa perched above a garden—but it's not just any old garden. The flowers are made of crystal with stems "like rods of glass" and have the power to reverse time. Hoping to escape an approaching mob, Axel picks all of the time-reversing flowers, but they each melt in his hand "like an ice-cold bead of dew," only providing a moment of relief from the mob. By the end of the story, there are no more flowers left to pick to reverse time, so the mob enters the count's property, which is now in complete ruin. The once-lovely garden is filled with weeds, the lake empty, the trees rotten, and the villa gutted. The count and countess are now statues among thorn bushes.
As you can tell, "The Garden of Time" begins as a fairytale and descends into something much more macabre—an interesting juxtaposition that is ripe for exploring on the red carpet.
Preview Items From the Upcoming Exhibition
