Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

We won’t go back.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

We’re not going back!

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

T R E 4 5 O N

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You are here: Home / Popular Culture / KULCHA! / (Nearly) Respite Open Thread: Our Very Own Gilded (Glamour) Age

(Nearly) Respite Open Thread: Our Very Own Gilded (Glamour) Age

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Lots of good photos and details on the whole event from the AP:

… Former presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton was in a Bordeaux-colored gown designed by Joseph Altuzarra with the names of historic women sewn into the hem and neckline. They include Abigail Adams, Shirley Chisolm and Madeleine Albright.

Clinton’s last Met Gala was a while ago.

“I told Anna I would come every 20 years,” she said…

The Japonisme influence here is very much on theme, while supposedly referencing the Statue of Liberty’s (also a product of the original Gilded Age!) gradual shift from bright copper to its current verdigris.


(Of course, many tweets shriek OMG just like Princess Barbie and Prince Ken in that movie!!!… )

Some attendees really rocked the theme, and I’ll admit it would not have occurred to me that Billie Eilish might choose to be so literal:

You know John Singer Sargent would’ve done full justice to Lizzo — bitching all the way, and secretly thrilled as she traded snipe for snipe…

Some artists are just singular.

And then there are the poor souls who try really, really hard, shading from ‘well, okay’ downward…

… Bless her heart, as the Southern ladies say. The designer of this dress must’ve seated next to one of those raucous bridal showers at a tiki-themed lounge. The bride-to-be was forced to model the prize-winning toilet-paper gown, but not before turning her bedazzled baseball cap back-to-front so she could wear the table centerpiece as a tiara. Tell me I’m wrong:

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    narya

    I am Fashion-Averse, at best, but I LOVE Quinn’s commentary on these events. She knows her fashion history.

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    I like Billie Eilish’s costume.

    And Blake Lively was nothing but stunning; amazing dress and poise.

    Lizzo looked regal.  And I care nothing about any of the Kardashians or any of their hangers on.  Enough.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    @AxelFoley:   Happy Birthday!

    Good morning rikyrah.

    I guess Kay is working the polls today.  More power to her.  Look forward to her takes on the Ohio election results, eventually.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:  It was a transformer dress.  The video explains.

    An homage to the Statue of Liberty, and her transition from copper to the green we see today.

    Thought it was one of the best dresses, evah.  Can you imagine how heavy that dress was, with its train??

  11. 11.

    Ohio Mom

    @AxelFoley: Then, Happy Birthday.

    I remember previous years’ Met Gala outfits enchanting me but this year, meh. Well, Hillary looks good.

  13. 13.

    Elizabelle

    FWIW, Joe Biden had lunch with Bill Clinton yesterday, at the White House.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    Breaking, from the WaPost:

    Today, President Biden said that “basic fairness” demands that Roe v. Wade be upheld and urged voters to elect more abortion rights supporters to Congress in a statement responding to a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court is prepared to overturn the landmark decision.

    “At the federal level, we will need more pro-choice Senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law,” Biden said in the statement, which also stressed that it is unclear whether the draft, published by Politico, is genuine.

    The last part:  giving the USSC an offramp.

  16. 16.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    As a much younger man, Billie Eilish would have smitten me in a huge way. Hell, as a much older man, I have a crush….

  17. 17.

    germy

    Not advocating that anyone actually do this in todays age, but homegirl literally showed up to a ball with a taxidermied cat as a hat and a dress made out of cats. FOR A COSTUME PARTY! pic.twitter.com/z7BfZHlmeC

    — Prosecco Princess (@Tahjadore) May 3, 2022

    Her dress was adorned with cat tails, as well. The rich, they are different…

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    I am really not feeling it on this topic, Anne Laurie. It’s like: Zelenskyy was shot? Here’s a Kardashian!

    Maybe a fresh thread to continue discussing the threat to Roe?

    Who wants to talk about socialites and celebrities? Maybe later in the day.

  21. 21.

    Suzanne

    I think it should be noted that Blake Lively’s gown apparently transitioned to verdigris, the color of oxidized copper, aka the Statue of Liberty. FWIW.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    @narya:
    I’m basically oblivious to fashion. I’ve dressed the same way for, like, nearly 50 of my 60 years. When I see a photo of some dressed for the Oscars or the Met Gala or that kind of thing, I’m just totally baffled by what I see.

  23. 23.

    gene108

    I like Edith Wharton’s dress. Real steampunk vibe to it.

    Happy Birthday AxelFoley! ??????????

  25. 25.

    zhena gogolia

    @Elizabelle: What about Zelenskyy?

    ETA: This doesn’t appear to be true. Really, this comment is irresponsible. Please don’t do that.

  26. 26.

    germy

    @Suzanne:

    Watching the Blake Lively clip brought home the fact that we’re simians, and some higher status simians adorn themselves with bird feathers while lower-caste simians hoot loudly and bang femur bones on the ground in appreciation.

    Cats would look on the spectacle as absurd.

  28. 28.

    germy

    @Elizabelle:

    Palestinians’ houses are bulldozed and that doesn’t seem to stop the festivities.   Humans look for light in the darkness and celebrate whenever they can.  I think the gala is absurd but I’m probably in the minority.

  33. 33.

    tam1MI

    I loved me some Sebastian Stan, but even I gotta say that head-to-toe fuschia number is a bit much.

  34. 34.

    Shalimar

    @zhena gogolia: Seconded.  I had to check to make sure Zelenskyy is fine.  Please use a real example like the abortion opinion when you say something like that.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    Sorry guys.  I figured you would see the Zelenskyy quip for what it was: something really portentous just happened:  now look at this Kardashian!

    @germy:   I agree to a point, but this was a “read the room” moment.  When you have people piling up in the predawn thread (and now in the Cole thread immediately following), that tells you something.  I like it when the threads don’t go too long, for those jackals who have to scroll through on their phones.

    I enjoy looking at the Met Gala costumes, if not always the people wearing them, but they will be as fresh tomorrow morning, or later today.

  36. 36.

    Jeffery

    It’s sort of like czarist Russia with their costume parties where the women’s dresses took a year to make. I don’t see anyone wearing them to PTA. They are all so silly.

  37. 37.

    zhena gogolia

    @Elizabelle: It’s really not a “quip” to say what you said. It is making light of the very serious thing you claim to want to focus on.

  38. 38.

    Elizabelle

    @zhena gogolia:  I am sorry to have scared you.  That did cross my mind, but I thought people would see that as an exaggeration.  My bad.

    May Zelenskyy live long and continue to lead, and may Ukraine repel this invasion as soon as possible.

  40. 40.

    MisterDancer

    @Elizabelle: this was a “read the room” moment.

    As the residing King of “stop derailing important threads”: this post isn’t a derail.

    And, moreover — you cannot live solely in pain. It is good, and proper, to have joy and entertainment in your life. Indeed, a huge part of why we do these things is to affirm, for everyone this time, those rights.

    The news is grim. Yet the forces that led to that draft decision have been in play for decades. The processes we need to support to repel then, will take time to implement.

    We will not gain that time by taking it away from looking at dresses, and enjoying a moment’s  respite. Indeed, you’ll lose something that makes us not just human, but capable of understanding art, of seeing the diversity of the world that our political work should be grounded in.

    Especially as events like The Met Gala allow us to foreground a growing array of voices. As….frustrating as the Kardashians have been in many ways, they and others like Bella Hadid represent changes to the ideals of “attractive” body image and clothing styles — as well as the ethnicities that are “Allowed” to partake — that we should be thoughtful of. The massive changes in Male fashion, as well, should be celebrated, not to mention the growing inclusion of Trans folx.

    The Met Gala is far from perfect in many ways. But it’s also deeply political, just as the news from the Draft is, and for similar reasons.

  41. 41.

    Rachel Bakes

    A friend and former colleague at The Mark Twain House reached out last night while watching the red carpet. “I need to vent to the 1 person I know will know and understand…no one understands when the Gilded Age was!!”

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    @MisterDancer:   Hey there.  I am absolutely fine with the topic of this thread.  I think it would be even better for the afternoon or evening.

    Just not as THE morning post after a heavy breaking news night, with enormous implications.

    My issue was the timing, not the topic itself.  Gonna check out the red carpet attire myself, later today or tonight.

    It’s why we appreciate stories about valiant bomb sniffing Ukrainian beagle Patron (cute and useful), and all the cats of the resistance.  All the marvelous protest art.

    This post has 42 comments at the moment.

    Cole’s subsequent post has 223.

    The predawn abortion thread has 199.

    The Covid and OTR threads have 12 (!!) and 19, respectively.

    Metrics.

  43. 43.

    AM in NC

    Love that you shared a Tweet from Tom & Lorenzo!  T-Lo are da bomb – It’s like my blog worlds are colliding!

  44. 44.

    Anne Laurie

    @Elizabelle: I am really not feeling it on this topic, Anne Laurie. It’s like: Zelenskyy was shot? Here’s a Kardashian!

    So sorry that I can’t meet your standards, Mrs. Audley Earbore.

    I spent quite a bit of time working on the 4:30am post about the Alito draft leak, acktually, but be sure to keep reminding us that every new topic must be hand-crafted for your personal delight!

Comments are closed.