It’s called “fashion’s biggest night” for a reason.
The Met Gala, an annual fundraising (and star-gazing) night held in support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, is an invite-only event that draws some of the biggest stars in fashion, music, film and more.
This year’s dress code centred around The Garden of Time. Inspired by the short story of the same name by J.G. Ballard, the theme is a nod to the exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.
B.C.’s own Pamela Anderson attended the event on Monday for the first time.
The Ladysmith resident, who has been causing a stir in fashion circles thanks to her self-styled and makeup-free looks, told The New York Times she never imagined she’d see her name added to the coveted invite list.
“I feel like everything has led me to this pinnacle moment where I get to be at the Met, being respected and accepted by Anna Wintour,” Anderson told fashion writer Vanessa Friedman.
The former Baywatch star walked the Met Gala “runway” wearing a gown by Oscar de la Renta. Designed to make the star look (and maybe feel?) like a “fairy in a forest,” according to the fashion brand’s co-creative director Fernando Garcia, the blushing-beige chiffon gown was said to be inspired by Anderson’s home on Vancouver Island.
Purchased by her grandparents in the 1950s, the seaside acreage is surrounded by forest. That very forest served as the inspiration for the “fairy in a forest” idea, designed to be a “nymphlike dress,” according to Friedman, slipped on in the morning before a “romp” in the woods.
Anderson styled her blond hair in an updo with a headpiece meant to look like sprigs of dried grass. Natural glam makeup done by celebrity artist Pat McGrath added to the look, along with dazzling strands of bespoke lab-grown diamonds from Pandora.
Draped across her collarbone and down her back, a nod to raindrops (how very B.C.), the sparkling white-and-pink diamond adornment totalling nearly 200 carats was created specially for Anderson’s Met Gala debut.
“I’m in a very freeing space right now where I have the opportunity to enjoy beauty and fashion, on my own terms,” said Anderson, an ambassador for the brand. “To be adorned in diamonds is opulent. And for these diamonds to be produced sustainably, it is innovative and exciting. So I get the best of both worlds.”
In honour of Anderson’s Met Gala debut, Pandora has released two, limited-edition pink diamond necklaces, each featuring a one-carat fancy pink diamond.
