Getting Dressed for the Met Gala
The Met Ball, at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is always the year’s most elaborate display of incredible fashion and this year was no different. The theme was ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’ and when the house of Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri asked me to join them, I was thrilled to see what they would create with my right fashion hand, Elizabeth Saltzman.
Love, gp
The Costume Institute Gala for the “PUNK: Chaos to Couture” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
We asked stylist Elizabeth Saltzman to tell us about the inspiration for the dress I wore:
An initial sketch from the Valentino team.
“When I first started to research the punk theme, I visited a neighbor of mine who’d been in the music business and had a collection of all her punk pieces from the past. She had this one big pink ball-gown skirt that I immediately took to. In thinking about what Gwyneth could wear, I didn’t want her to show up in a costume. So this look is all about anarchy—truly going against the grain and not wearing what everyone expects. That’s about as punk as you can get, which is why the dynamic duo, Pierpaolo and Maria of Valentino, made so much sense. Their clothes are so pretty…”
First Fitting
About three weeks before the event, Elizabeth and I meet with Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri to see the dress for the first time. The dress arrives big and requires some refining to make it more fitted.
Pierpaolo, Maria and me.
We change the height of the cutout while Elizabeth Saltzman takes a closer look at the fabric. We decide to take all the lining out to make the dress even more sheer.
2nd Fitting
About ten days later, I try on the dress for the second time. The fit is better but Pierpaolo thinks it needs more refining.
Day of
A few small, last minute adjustments are sewn in after I try the final version on.
Getting ready.
Elizabeth and hairdresser David Babaii wanted my hair to have natural texture and David tried adding a few blue strands, but in the end I opted for a natural ponytail.
We chose a pair of Wilfredo Rosado inverted diamond studs to complete the look. It was a choice between those and the pair from Shaun Leane.
Matching shoes on, ready to go.
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At the Ball with Pierpaolo and Maria Grazia.
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Some favorite looks of the night were Miranda Kerr in Michael Kors, Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga, and Cara Delevingne in Burberry.
