As attendees of the Met Gala stalked the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this week, fashion gawkers around the world gathered around laptops and cellphone screens to marvel at the excess of jewels, creative costuming and perhaps most importantly, the trends. Last year it was all about sheer mesh and corsets; a few years back it was metallics and lace. To go by Monday night’s display, grapefruit-size rosettes are likely headed to a clothing rack near you.
We’re living in an era when fads are able to move through the global population with unprecedented swiftness, and sometimes it seems like we’re living in a time of unprecedented absurdity. But while the first condition can be blamed on our digital age, the second is only a mirage. Human fashion has always been delightfully strange and deeply ridiculous. When have people not wanted to stun and to charm? To own weird little tchotchkes and hoard shiny shells? A love of glitter and flair is embedded in the human heart.
