Some would call the Met Gala the biggest night in fashion, and with good reason.  The Queen of All Things Luxury and Fashion, Vogue Editor In Chief, Anna Wintour, whom the Met’s Costume Institute was renamed after, invites the who’s who of high society out for a night that honors fashion.  The purpose of the Met Gala is not just to give the have nots a reason to judge the haves, it’s to benefit the Anna Wintour Costume Center and to debut the newest exhibit installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The theme of the gala is whatever the new exhibit is.  Ideally everyone is to come in costume (operative word) in keeping with the theme.  This year’s exhibit honors the work of Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, so everyone should’ve come either wearing the designer or the designer’s aesthetic achieved by another designer to pay homage.  In essence, the Met Gala is a haute couture costume party.

While I always have a bit of a struggle with the exclusivity of such events, I rationalized it with the thinking that only the wealthiest and most influential people can be invited, because those are the only people who have the means to properly honor the night’s theme.  This is an opportunity to really have fun, and do the absolute most with fashion, yet every year only a handful of people show up and actually do that.  This breaks down the entire reasoning behind the exclusivity of the event. If Rihanna is the only person we can count on to show up and show out, then why are we all here?  Granted a few others played along, but not all had the swag to really pull the looks off.  Then there were celebs like Kim Kardashian and J. Lo who have proven over and over again that they are pretty, yet they show up like it’s just any other event.  We know you’re pretty, we know you’re glam, why couldn’t you just play along for a fun night of avant garde fashion?  For Anna Wintour to be rumored to be such a hard ass, I can’t for the life of me understand why she continues to invite people to the Met Gala who don’t do the theme justice.  It’s all political I suppose.  Deep sigh.  Anyway, below are some of my faves, but I have to acknowledge Cynthia Erivo’s look which I only saw after the fact.  She looked phenomenal.

Holding court!! Pre #metgala17

A post shared by cynthiaerivo (@cynthiaerivo) on May 1, 2017 at 10:59pm PDT

 

Men’s edition #MetGala faves. Shouts out to #Migos for making a song about #Versace and then being dressed by the house for the occasion. We shouldn’t be surprised to see rappers at major fashion events, because they influence the culture far more than they get credit for. #Diddy on the steps is my new mood goal for life. I can’t even deal with how well #michaelbjordan wears a suit. My goodness. #ramimalek killed it in all red; although, I would’ve liked to have seen a sleeker shoe. #maxwell #jadensmith #donaldglover #future

A post shared by Jess (@notcarriebradshaw) on May 2, 2017 at 7:54am PDT

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A post shared by Jess (@notcarriebradshaw) on May 2, 2017 at 6:39am PDT

Am I the only person who is confused by women identifying as mermaids and unicorns?  Did I miss the pop culture reference point here?  This is no judgement to those people.  By no means am I trying to be one of those, “Oh I’m so cool because I’m not with the latest fads” type of people, but I’m just so confused by the recent uptick in women’s identification with mythological creatures.

A few things I’m thinking about today:

 

Why are the white women in my office always tired?  Literally the second thing they say to me every day is, “I’m so tired.”  If it’s around 3 PM, sure, we all hit that slump around then.  But it is 10 AM.  You’ve done nothing.  We work in an office, wherein we sit and surf the internet most of the time, and have an unlimited supply of caffeine.  What are you tired from? For fucks sake get an adequate amount of sleep and leave me alone.

You wake up every morning to sweet text messages.  Not that “good morning beautiful” bullshit either.  You wake up to genuine well wishes and sentiments of longing to see you, and now you have an extra boost of energy for the day.  He calls and says, “Get dressed we’re going out,” and you love the spontaneity and mystery of it.  He keeps you on your toes, so you’re never bored.  You may even travel to see him sometimes.  He has an enduring presence in the back of your mind.  He makes you laugh and blush.  He pleases you in ways you’ve never experienced before, and unexpectedly you find yourself daydreaming, replaying it in your mind and outwardly biting your lip in memory of the moment.  You discuss things about the world, and he introduces you to ideas and concepts you’d never considered before.  He makes you think.  He disarms you.  He makes you feel comfortable.  He really sees you.  He says things in the plural like us and we, and uses future tense.  But this is not your boyfriend.  No commitments have been made, and fear, anxiety, and insecurity creep in.  Now every time his phone goes off you wonder if it’s another girl.  Now you grow suspicious of the times he’s taken a little longer to text back.  Now you notice certain likes and comments under his pics.  Now you have the sneaking suspicion that that which you’ve become accustom to may not actually belong solely to you. 

 

Black cinema is in the midst of a revival, with black writers and directors creating stories that are reflective of the black experience.  The latest of such films is Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated horror/comedy Get Out.  The film received 100 percent positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, which is a rare occurrence.  According to the LA Times Get Out also topped the box office with $30.5 million in ticket sales.

A post shared by EBONY (@ebonymagazine) on Feb 16, 2017 at 9:35am PST

Loving this retro glam look from Jurnee Smollett-Bell on the cover of Ebony. We live for a good jumpsuit moment, and her post baby body is a refreshing change from the ones we typically see.

The red carpet for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards was so underwhelming that it’s not even worth mentioning besides this sentence. The show itself was an emotional roller coaster, and I’m glad I stuck around for the awe inducing moments.  So let’s get started.

 

A photo posted by Us Weekly (@usweekly) on Feb 13, 2017 at 8:50am PST

Chance the Rapper continues to make us proud as the community Youth Pastor who sometimes curses. I genuinely teared up watching his performance, because you could really feel his passion for this. I’m not a part of Rap Genius twitter, so I’m not sure if anyone else has done this, but I find it so admirable that he earned two Grammy’s as an independent artist having never sold an album. Real talent will sell itself I suppose?

Last night’s SAG Awards were very politically charges, as is everything these days.  Performers like Kerry Washington defended the right, nay necessity of actors to be activists saying, “A lot of people are saying right now that actors shouldn’t express their opinions when it comes to politics. But the truth is, actors are activists no matter what, and we embody the worth and humanity of all people. This union helps me to do that. I am Kerry Washington, and I am an actor.”  Mahershala Ali made a point to highlight the value of really seeing people regardless of surface differences. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep), Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures), and David Harbour (Stranger Things) were among other winners who used their acceptance speeches to offer words of criticism, hope, and encouragement in the aftermath of the Muslim Ban, and the changing climate of the country.

Fences and Hidden Figures cleaned up with wins for Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for best Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, respectively.  Hidden Figures won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.  I have been on the edge of my seat waiting to see how well Moonlight would do this season, so Mahershala Ali’s win for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role sent me to the moon (see what I did there).   In these times of divisiveness and social unrest, it’s also helpful to see a cast of such diverse women in Orange is the New Black take home a win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.  For a full list of winners click here.

Now for the fun part.

I’m not sure why, but I have intense writer’s block.  Maybe it’s the mounting anxiety from the social injustices promulgating from the White House, but I just haven’t been feeling like what I’m writing about is really important given what’s going on in the world.  But, in the name of consistency, and flexing my writing muscles as often as possible, I am giving you ten random thoughts I’ve had today.

The day after the election felt like a bad dream.  I know that sounds cliche, but truly that’s what it felt like.  From the time I walked out of my door, I felt like I was in an alternate universe.  It felt like the city of New York took one long exhale, and fell into a collective emotional slump.  The subway ride into the city was uncharacteristically quiet.  New York prides itself on its strength in the face of adversity.  You can flashback to the days that followed 9/11 and the ways in which this city showed its resilience, yet the day after the election the entire city felt defeated.  We all walked around in a haze of fear and uncertainty.  “I spent all night trying to comfort my wife.  She was in tears the entire night,” I heard a coworker say.  Whispered conversations could be overheard throughout the office as we tuned in and out of post election coverage, and we all sauntered home to unpack the feelings of the day.