The best outfits and beauty looks from the Met Gala 2022

The very special guests on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum took heed of the words of Tom Ford, honorary chairman of the Met Gala along with Anna Wintour and Instagram head Adam Mosseri, who said only a few days ago, referring to the elaborate and often unladylike outfits worn by the stars at the event:

"That used to just be very chic people wearing very beautiful clothes going to an exhibition about the 18th century. You didn't have to look like the 18th century, you didn't have to dress like a hamburger, you didn't have to arrive in a van where you were standing up because you couldn't sit down because you wore a chandelier".

No one showed up wearing a hamburger, but many decided to give a free interpretation of the theme, the Gilded Age. The idea was to bring back to the red carpet the so-called American Golden Age, the period between 1870 and 1890 when New York was the center of the world, with parties, luxury, decadence and a riot of corsets, ruffles, fringes, bows, embroidery and glittering jewelry. We expected to see lots of vintage pieces, perhaps by Galliano, Westwood and Lacroix, but instead, we saw many different digressions on the theme, lots of Versace and Louis Vuitton dresses, gold and unexpected dark touches. The first celebrity to catch the eye was Blake Lively, one of the four co-hosts of the evening along with husband Ryan Reynolds, who arrived in an Atelier Versace tribute to the Statue of Liberty, complete with a tiara on her head. The wow detail? The dress was reversible. Just undo the bow and the dress changed color. Donatella Versace was also the designer for the debut of Fedez and Chiara Ferragni, with a semi-collared XXL hair look and nude make-up by Manuele Mameli; Lily James, in a pearl dress and wet hair; the total gold look worn by Cardi B and Emily Ratatjkowski, who opted for a vintage 1992 Atelier Versace dress worn on the catwalk by Yasmeen Ghauri. 

Nicolas Guesquiere and his creations for Louis Vuitton inspired by the past seemed to be the perfect choice for Phoebe Dynevor of Bridgerton; HoYeon; Chloë Grace Moretz; Gemma Chan; Emma Chamberlain, who wore a very cool make-up by Kelsey Deenihan with red shades embellished with gold touches on her eyelids, combined with an icy blonde helmet embellished with a tiara. Louis Vuitton was also the brand behind the looks of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, who looked stunning in her pre-Raphaelite beauty. The actress looked like a diaphanous vampire with long auburn hair and a pale face, a favorite beauty of many other stars. The Vampire Diaries mood inspired the beauty choices of Kendal Jenner, who plucked her eyebrows for the occasion (using Kylie Cosmetics products) and wore a black, ruffled Prada; of Maude Apatow, for whom Kelsey Deenihan created a 1920s make-up; but also of Gigi and Bella Hadid. The former opted for a total red, including lipstick and maxi duvet, by Versace with Chopard jewelry, which looked like a re-edition of Dracula's armor in Coppola's film; while Bella opted for a black bustier dress by Burberry, a Golden Age-style semi-braided hairstyle and ultra-soft make-up, enlivened by generous strokes of blush on her cheeks.

While Kaia Gerber in McQueen, YSL beauty and Guido Palau doll girl style hairstyle with a soft cascade of soft curls, held in place by two jewel clasps, looked like Olivia Rodrigo's twin sister in a shimmering lilac Versace dress and woodland fairy hairstyle, Kylie Jenner was too daring in an Off-White wedding dress and, like Hailey Bieber's outfit, was decidedly off-key. The model looked very chic in total white Saint Laurent, complete with a marabou-edged cape. She toned down the old-fashioned diva effect with no make-up, but failed to be as convincing as Kim Kardashian. As always, the influencer set her sights high, showing up on the red carpet in the Jean Louis dress worn by Marilyn Monroe on 19 May 1962 to sing "Happy Birthday Mr. President" to John Kennedy. The dress was exactly the same as the actress's and Kim lost over 8 kilos to fit into it. Of course, she also dyed her hair blonde. 

The award for the most impressive makeover at the Met Gala 2022? It was won by Billie Eilish in a Gucci bustier dress made entirely from upcycled materials. The singer looked like something out of a portrait of Madame Poirson painted by John Singer Sargent. What was your favorite look?