Kim Kardashian, the modern day selfie messiah, was never going to hold back from a one-armed front-camera snap at last night’s Met Gala, (May 7) even if it did break the Gala’s golden rule.
Kim acted as the public’s small window into the annual event, which this year took the theme of Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.
The 37-year-old celebrity looked like liquid gold in her custom chainmail Versace dress, featuring crosses embroidered on the bodice and hip.
Apparently, with glamour comes rules and regulations, as decreed by Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of the fashion gospel, Vogue, who organises the event.
Wintour, the event chair, introduced a ban on selfies at The Met Gala three years ago, and the motion was supported by the gala host, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
When Anna and the Metropolitan Museum first instituted the ban in 2015, they said it was for the safety of the guests. ‘It has solely to do with guests’ security and enjoyment of the event’ a source told Page Six at the time.
However, abandoning all aspects of the avant-garde – as her baby sister Kylie did last year – the Kim K stuck true to form and posted numerous selfies with many guests at the extravagant event.
The church-related theme for the Gala was given the seal of approval by the Vatican, who even donated artefacts to the event, however it’s still being viewed as highly controversial.
Critics are accusing the red-carpet employment of Catholicism as a dress code of cultural appropriation, saying the celebrities are sexualising and glamourising the religion.
The Met Gala, which started life in 1948 as a high society midnight supper to raise funds for the Costume Institute, has now become one of the most visible charity events in the world, with last year’s event raising £9.7 million.
Last year, Kylie Jenner posted an iconic basic bathroom mirror selfie as though she was in some dingy nightclub, breaking her host’s rule in exchange for all the Instagram engagement.
Kylie’s ‘annual bathroom selfie’ read like a Who’s Who of The Met Gala, capturing the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, A$AP Rocky, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Lily Aldridge and Paris Jackson.
Kim wasn’t alone in throwing out the rule book.
Snapchat stories revealed several other celebrities also took the risk of angering Vogue‘s ‘dragon lady’ (not one I’d take), including Ariana Grande and Karlie Kloss.
Rihanna sparked a religious uproar after she channeled papal attire for the annual event in a hugely-embellished custom-made John Galliano gown.
One critic of her headdress wrote:
Rihanna I love you but showing up with a pope head piece is so offensive to me. As someone raised in a catholic household I think the #MetGala2018 is a mockery of Christian religion and highly disrespectful on so many levels.
Another said:
So you can’t wear an Native American outfit for Halloween because it’s offensive, but Rihanna can dress like the Pope and she gets praised (???). Not only is she dressed as the Pope, her outfit sexualises it. Ok.
Did Anna Wintour really think she could stop the Queen of selfies?
She literally wrote a book on it.
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