The Met Gala is the extravaganza of an event that officially opens the annual exhibition at The Costume Institute, which is housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Now we’ve got the facts out of the way, here’s the important thing to know: it also happens to be only the glitziest, ritziest red carpet evening of the fashion calendar.
Hosted by US Vogue’s Anna Wintour, would you expect anything less?
GALLERY: THE BEST HAIR & MAKEUP LOOKS FROM THE 2013 MET GALA
The theme of the exhibition this year is ‘PUNK: Chaos to Couture’.
And it would be rude not to comply to your host’s dress code, right?
Which is why we have to give snaps to the following guests. We might not be, uh, copying all their hair and makeup looks anytime soon, but you’ve got to hand it to them for their beauty bravery, right?
Punk Look 1: Slashes of Black Eyeliner
We saw various styles of cat-eye liner slink along the red carpet this past weekend. So we were hardly surprised to find the look make a reappearance here. Albeit in a rather extreme way (one for big cats, perhaps, not timid kittens). Afterall, those crazy-cat punks were known for their love of loads of black liner, among other things (tartan, safety pins, loud clangy music, the like).
Dakota Fanning was perhaps the most literal and creative with her punky eye makeup:
And Bella Heathcote went for a serious slash of liner that was really only wearable because 1) the deep-blue shade made it less heavy than black would have been, and 2) she’s so beautiful she could actually wear yellow face paint and green lipstick and still make us gush.
More wearable still were these two takes on punky black eyes:
Nina Dobrev
Emmy Rossum
Nina beautifully balanced out a top-heavy black eye with a silvery edge, while Emmy mixed in some cocoa-brown shadow to soften up the look (not to mention tap into the smoky-brown catwalk look we so know and love).
Punk Look 2: The Girl with the Dragon-Dark Lips
While those punk babes of the ‘80s loved to break a rule or two, they rarely touched this beauty one: play up either your eyes or your lips – never do both.
And that’s why a sub-plot of a trend at the Met Gala was the scary-dark lip.
Leave it to Gothic-chic Rooney Mara to fly that particular flag:
Now, we get that pale skin and dark lips go together like Sid and Nancy. And we love how she has balanced out her punky pout with a fierce set of brows. But let’s split some hairs for a second – do you think that her makeup artist could have extend her super-fair foundation down her neck and back?
Another star going to the dark lipstick side on the night was Katy Perry.
She wasn’t technically thematic, seeing as punks weren’t really all that much into royalty and religion, but details, details …
And then there was Nicole Richie’s, uh, interesting take on the dark lip trend.
We’re slightly speechless right about now. But I will say that her earring extravaganza lead us quite nicely into …
Punk Look 3: Spiky, Spooky Accessories
Punks loved a bit of leather strappage, along with ear piercings and other paraphernalia, although they probably never carried them off quite as gorgeously as supermodel Constance Jablonski.
Fellow model Karolina Kurkova also went for some spiky ear bling, matching it back to some serious hardware on her fingertips, which took nail art to a whole new level.
And more punky spikes showed up atop the heads of …
Jaime King
Sienna Miller
We’re kind of siding with Sienna on the Who Wore It Better debate. Spikes and silky-smooth hair just don’t seem to pass the Sid & Nancy test, right?
Speaking of hair …
Punk Look 4: High Hair
Some took punk hair a little too literally (*cough, Miley Cyrus, cough*).
Although the closest anyone came to an actual Mohawk was SJP.
We don’t know about you, but Carrie can wear anything she damn well pleases in our books. Including bejewelled feather dusters on her head.
For the rest of us, the quiff is the wearable version of the mo’ – and was ever-so-nicely modelled by Katie Holmes:
While Julianne Hough rocked up with an interesting twisty version of the look.
But Julianne, please: Step. Away. From. The. Eyebrow.Pencil.
Punk Look 5: Colourful Hair
While the bright streaky haircolour trend has kind of been and faded away, this wouldn’t have been a true punk-fest without a nod to the look. Alicia Keys, Diane Kruger (below) and Chanel Iman dip-dyed their ends pink, while Ivanka Trump sported teal-blue pieces throughout her blonde locks.
But getting into a seriously streaky spirit was little Lily Collins, who was about as far from her usual Snow White look as you could get.
Now that’s some dedication to a theme, right?
Tell me, Primpers, who’s your fave?
Who kinda scares you?
What would you wear beauty-wise to a punk-themed party?
Kat x