Old School Glamour at the Met Gala of the West Coast Old School Glamour at the Met Gala of the West Coast
The New York Times
The Academy Museum Gala delivered what red carpets are made for.
Once upon a time there was the Oscars: the most star-spangled red carpet event of the year. Then the Met Gala became the “Oscars of the East Coast,” an even more eye-popping entrance outfit event. And now there is the Academy Museum Gala, which only four years in is starting to look a lot like … well, the Met Gala of the West Coast.
Like the Met Gala, it is a fund-raiser for a cultural institution: in this case, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Like the Met, it raises a significant amount of money: This year’s take was $11 million. Like the Met Gala, the event itself is not televised, so what happens inside stays inside (there are honorees — this year Paul Mescal, Quentin Tarantino and Rita Moreno — and a performance). And like the Met, it had a red carpet to reckon with.
But while the Met itself has started to look increasingly like a competition of costume one-ups-manship, thanks to the party dress codes that change according to the exhibit being celebrated, the Academy gala seems to inspire fashion that is an ode to Old Hollywood. Cynthia Erivo, the evening’s featured entertainment, crooning “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in emerald green set the tone.
As a theme — even an unofficial one — it turned out to be a winner.
