Met Gala 2021: "Surreal, Kinda Weird" To Be Here, Say Stars

"I've kinda gotten used to being a little introvert like - but I'm back on side so I'm excited to see everybody," said Megan Thee Stallion

New York is done with dressing down: the splashy black-tie Met Gala returned Monday, with a cohort of Gen-Z's glitterati hosting the A-lister bash famed for its over-the-top panache - and, despite the pandemic, this year the fashion was so fierce one guest wielded a sword. The crowd of some 400 actors, athletes, poets and performers - all of whom were either vaccinated or had tested negative for Covid-19 - was largely maskless on the cream carpet, defying the global coronavirus pandemic that forced the cancellation of last year's event. "It's so surreal," US rapper Megan Thee Stallion, attending the Gala for the first time and dressed by designer Coach to evoke old Hollywood glamor, told AFP. "I feel like, oh my gosh, Houston, Texas we made it!... I'm excited to be here." But she did admit that it was "kinda weird" to be around so many people, more than 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic. "I've kinda gotten used to being a little introvert like - but I'm back on side so I'm excited to see everybody," she said. Canadian musician Grimes, who was one of the few wearing a face mask, set Twitter alight by carrying a sword - perhaps to, as one user suggested, "make sure people stay 6 ft away."