Tonight, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will present "In America: An Anthology of Fashion," the second chapter of its two-part exhibition on American fashion. This year's Met Gala dress code/theme is "Gilded Glamour."
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Historical Context
The term "Gilded Glamour" refers to the golden age in America, the period of rapid industrialization and massive economic growth in the three decades before the turn of the century. This era also saw the end of the Reconstruction Era in 1877, which prohibited many Black Americans from participating in or benefiting from the economic boom. The era took its name from the 1873 novel "The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today" by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner - a satire of post-Civil War America and the emerging class of entrepreneurs.
Corsets, gloves, hourglass silhouettes and gowns ornamented with over the top bows, textures and lavish embellishments were the fashion trends back then.
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What’s another word for “Gilded”?
Luxurious. Prosperous. Bourgeois. We are talking about the late 19th hundreds.
gilded
/ˈɡɪldɪd/
adjective
covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint.
wealthy and privileged.
Who will host the Met Gala 2022?
The event's co-chairs are actress and filmmaker Regina King, actress Blake Lively, actor and Lively's husband Ryan Reynolds, and actor and screenwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda. This year's foursome of co-chairs is a bit different from the Gen Z lineup at last year's gala, which included actor Timothée Chalamet, singer Billie Eilish, tennis star Naomi Osaka and poet Amanda Gorman. Ford and King are among a group of filmmakers, including Sofia Coppola and Chloé Zhao, who have created cinematic vignettes for the exhibition.
Criticism about the Theme
Although "Gilded Glamour and White Tie" pays homage to the period of rapid prosperity, industrialization and growth in the U.S. from 1870 to 1890, some have called it "out of touch."
What is the 2023 Met Gala theme? : Click here.
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