Floral Fashions Saved 2021 MET Gala

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By Jill Brooke

Crass vs. class. Leave it to flowers to save the day – or night.

The Costume Institute’s annual gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art could have been an opportunity for a great dress-up occasion to remind us of how fun fashion can be and how much we miss occasions to be as Coco Chanel said, living art.

No surprise really that when weeding the fashion garden from all the excesses at the Costume Institute’s annual gala, some flowers bloomed especially in the hands of the designers at Chanel, Halston and Oscar de la Renta and newcomers like Bode.

Particularly loved Lily Reinhart’s dress.

“It was the most flowering dress of all with a pink high/low corset mini with long train by Christian Siriano,” says Hollywood Reporter fashion writer Merle Ginsberg. “Both the torso of the dress – a boned pale pink corset – and the long sheer train – were festooned with flowers of all colors. She looked like a mermaid rising not out of the sea – but out of a rich garden.

In fact, it had all the flowers from the 50 states sewed into the custom design.

There was a lot of costume bizarreness and ridiculousness with stylists wanting to outdo others to get their Instagram moment. Sigh sigh. Yet Vogue editor wore an Oscar de la Renta dress with fall flowers that was cut in a modern way but conveyed both elegance and a pretty vibe.

“The white with floral print ode to her late friend/designer Oscar de la Renta,” adds Ginsberg. “This one looked like a whole garden had risen up and walked on two legs. It might have been her best look ever. It was certainly the most flattering.

Yes model Irini Shayek’s Moschino gown bared a lot of attention-grabbing skin, but one couldn’t help but notice the trail of flowers in the dress’ train.

Others tried to gain attention with floral fabrics as well – including Jordan Roth.

Since here at flowerpowerdaily, we curate looking for how flowers intersect in fashion in beautiful tasteful ways that you may want to wear for an upcoming wedding, anniversary party or event to just feel good, not sure you would wear this to a friend’s party. But maybe you would.

We have asked our fans to vote on the Top 5 and hope you will also vote on our Instagram feed.

For now, here is the runway of floral fashions from the gala which was called, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.”

Notice the detailed beadwork and embroidery on many of these dresses. These are still works of art as fashion can be. And can’t help but like Tom Ford’s live floral in his lapel.

Joyce Corrigan, who wrote about fashion for Marie-Claire and Elle, and now is the style editor at Bedford New Canaan magazine pointed out that the floral fashions offered a garden variety: from super sexy to romantic. “No shrinking violets, though,” she noted.

“Nothing succeeds like excess when it comes to floral fashions at last night’s Met Ball,” says Corrigan. “From Kirsten Stewart’s ruffly, barely-buttoned pink floral Chanel blouse, to Irina Shayk’s “nude” Moschino by Jeremy Scott dress with strategically placed blossoms to Queen Belle of the ball, Anna Wintour’s form-fitting, trumpet skirted summer bouquet of an Oscar de la Renta. After a Covid hiatus, the Ball was back in full bloom.”

As for some of the other outre fashions? “Was it a tad like a Maria Antoinette ball? “I’ll defer to Diana Vreeland here,” says Corrigan. “Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, she famously said. You can eve see the approaching of a revolution in clothes.” As well of course, as lovely revelations.