The 2014 Met Gala: "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" My Favourite Looks (Womenswear)

Where to even begin!?! The Met, Charles James, Haute Couture gowns galore (and white-tie-and-tails-bedecked gentlemen following around the ladies who wear them). It looked like the most incredible evening celebrating a generally (and usually) underappreciated master of womenswear, bringing back to life his incredible creations and then reincarnating them of sorts, the various celebrities of the evening dressing up to pay homage in their own particular ways.

To start off with, a little bit of background on Charles James himself. 1906-1778. He's most commonly known as "America's First Couturier". He was British-born however and educated at Harrow with Evelyn Waugh and Cecil Beaton, and eventually expelled for a sexual escapade. He moved to Chicago at the age of nineteen to open a dress shop, and those dresses eventually turned into womenswear, particularly gowns. To put his influence into fashion's perspective, Christian Dior credited James as being the one to introduce The New Look, and is quoted as claiming him "the greatest talent of my generation". He worked to create gorgeous silhouettes that we now connotate with formal gowns, displaying the beautiful features of women's bodies instead of covering them up. He was also known for his wild partying and inability to save, and this is shown in some of his wilder creations: "The Taxi Dress" of 1932 for example, was created so that women could change out of it into another outfit in the back of a taxi (see the original style here and a present redition today created for Lupita Nyong'o by Miuccia Prada)

I think it's pretty fair to say that in general everybody looked absolutely spectaclar. But you see, this isn't just a general situation, this is the MET GALA: therefore every ante is upped and every fashion stake is higher. It's not just the run-of-the-mill awards show or movie premiere, so the attendees have the ability to dress more avant-garde or more classically. It's a celebration of fashion and everything this industry encompasses. I decided to simply look at the positves, avoiding the Best and Worst discussion that will probably frontrun most blogs and tabloids in the following days. As a celebration it was an opportunity for everyone to show their true colours and have an enjoyable experience, and as i said everyone looked spectacular, I don't think it's fair to harpoon faux pas' or anything like that though.

First off I'm going to cover my four absolutely best dressed "top-favourites". In my opinion they absolutely killed that carpet and managed to look elegant, sexy, individual, and having stepped out of a fairytale all at once. Blake Lively was dressed in Gucci Premiere, and worked a figure hugging beautiful silhouette with trails of embroidered fabric trailing down to the floor behind from her shoulders. It was absolutely ethereal and just breathtaking to behold. Blake has always been a frontrunner for the Met Gala in the past, donning Chanel and Marchesa to name a few. This year was no exception and bold classic curls, a flash of her million-dollar smile and Ryan Reynolds as perfect arm candy, there was no way she could look anything but immaculate.

Karolina Kurkova was my next of the four top-favourites. I am literally struggling to find the words though. Marchesa is always jaw-dropping in their silhouettes and their details, and they just made her the belle of the ball. That colour, that print descending down and that silhouette all combined to make me ready to drop my Armagnac and my latest DNA and run sceaming in her direction. Ultra feminine but at the same time captivating in its modernity, she accessorised it perfectly with swept back hair and an exquisite necklace.

Next was Suki Waterhouse in Burberry. To be honest I haven't been following her quite as much as any of the other celebrities i've spoken about, and until this moment i'm a little ashamed to say I only knew her as the lucky lucky gal dating Bradley Cooper. How could she not take your breath away in this though. It's perfection in every day, the blush and light grey tones complementing her skin tone, looking like a beautiful dreamlike second skin in fact. It's her bold red lip that brings the eye back to her face though, and after spending an hour engrossed with both of the above pictures of her, madly making mental note of every detail (and a solemn promise never to underestimate Christopher Bailey in terms of eveningwear EVER again), I can say I now offically understand the hype.

Finally my fourth and final top favourite is Rihanna, the cool and complex, sultry and sexy, elegant and unfortgettable Rihanna. In a move that has guaranteed the continued prevalence of crop-tops for another year, she wore a STUNNING, absolutely mind-blowingly sexy Stella McCartney cropped long sleeved top with matching floor length skirt. What made the look for me was the knotted streth of fabric right from the side of the derriere to the floor. It just managed to give it that ton more relevance and ability to generate interest. What was also amazing to look at was her jewelry. Normally i'm not a fan of tattoos but I think Rihanna could (literally) pull off a garbage bag and still look incredible, and the way the eye moved from the clean pure white to her inked beautifully patterned skin and phenomenal bling just took her entire outfit to a whole new level.

To just add in my last couple of favourites, I adored Beyonce's perfectly fitting headpiece (literally fitting to her head and also to the dress code for the event :P) and dramatic earrings. I also quite loved Georgina Bloombergs gorgeous flowing gown by Carolina Herrera, followed by the amazing Kirsten Dunst in a Death-Star terrific Rodarte gown i just fell in love with, and finally a Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda piece on Tabitha Simmons. To be honest quite a few celebrities wore Alta Moda pieces, which surprised me a little, as quite a few articles following their first haute couture collection stated specifically that they wouldn't be showcasing or designing for celebrity events, instead exclusivly for their regular clients. Do you guys think the Met Gala is an appropriate exception to that statement? All I know is the more I see of their collections the happier i'll be.

Overally beautiful looks on beautiful people, and both Couture and Hollywood will live on. Seriously not wanting to wake up from this dream of long trains and Chopard jewellery... All of this glamour has gotten me in the mood for another Armagnac, I'm thinking I might pop on The September Issue of something, just to contine my fashion orgy :P

<3 Matthew xoxo

I certainly had my fair share of favourites, and I wanted to

#fashion #hautecouture