Met Ball 2013

The Costume Institute Gala (or Costume Institute Ball), known as the Met Ball or Met Gala, is an annual ball that celebrates the annual opening of the Metropolitan Museum’s (The Met) fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute. The evening’s Co-Chairs will be Academy Award nominated actress Rooney Mara; Lauren Santo Domingo; Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director of Givenchy; and Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue. This fundraising event is The Costume Institute’s main source of annual funding for exhibitions, acquisitions, and capital improvements.

As much as I’m afraid to say anything about Anna Wintour, in fear of her tracking me down and verbally tearing me to shreds until I bow down to her, I have to say that I think it’s slightly rude she didn’t stick to the theme of the gala that she was hosting. Even worse, I am 100% positive I wore a very similar dress for my first grade school picture day- same haircut to boot. At least Anna wasn’t the only one who looked like a couch cover, except Kim Kardashians ensemble included the couch. Her floral floor-length dress stretched up into a turtle neck and her sleeves outward to gloves. It’s upsetting to think that Givenchy was not only responsible for this, but many other epic fails of the night. Every look he put together was over the top, and not in an avant garde way, more of “I’m not sure how to do punk so I’m trying way too hard to be different” way. Beyonce’s not-so-magical gown looked like Alladins carpet was wrapped around her body and belted, skinned and not used sparingly to create the boots, and all together unflattering. The only person that could pull off Madonna’s look with no problem, was Madonna, but someone who has always been so rebellious and somewhat rocker-ish shouldn’t have looked so purposefully punk. Another Givenchy look which made me cringe was Florence Welch who looked more like goth met nun met cowgirl. The dress might have been able to work if her hair and makeup was a little more finished. Givenchy does get credited for one of the best dressed though, Rooney Mara, whom he accompanied to the ball. Oh my gawd, she looked incredible in a flowing, zip-up, all white, plunging lace dress. Absolutely elegant with her hair slicked back and a dark, bold lip- probably my favorite of the night.

Sarah’s Jessica Parker was the epitome of couture punk and exactly what I envisioned the night to consist of. SJP so gracefully rocked a gold and black mohawked headpiece and a flowing gown opened in the front to show off thigh high velvet black boots. Cara Delevingne and Sienne Miller both wore Burberry who I was shocked did the theme justice. Cara wore a long black dress with a plunging neckline and studded sleeves. Sienna wore a very tight white dress and a chunky black leather jacket completely covered in spikes with a little spiked head piece in her messy hair. Obviously Miley Cyrus was dressed perfectly for this occasion with an all black mesh dress and spiked hair. Taylor Swift was stunning and I couldn’t believe how bad@$$ she looked. She had pale pink streaks in her hair, a smoky eye, black nail polish, and a black dress with crocheted cut outs- I was not expecting this from our little country angel. Katy Perry looked more like an Egyptian, but still at least put forth an effort which I can appreciate. Other honorable mentions were Gwen Stefani and Rose Huntington-Whitely who both looked drop dead gorgeous on two different ends of the spectrum. Nicole Richie and Anne Hathaway used their hair as a statement piece, both going MUCH lighter than their usual more natural colors.

 

 

By Brittiany Cunningham
Wintour

girldress

Punk: Chaos to Couture- Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art

Met ball 2013: Beyoncé Knowles

Madonna

Florence

RooneyMara

Jessica

Met Girls

MileyCyrus

TaylorSwift

Katy Perry

Gwen

Met girl2

Costume Institute Gala Benefit celebrating the Punk: Chaos To Couture exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, America - 06 May 2013 Pic: David Fisher/ Rex Features

Anne

The Walk Magazine’s

Ask Alexey: April Edition

 

 @ The Walk Magazine

 

Ever had a burning question about beauty and hair? Your best friend doesn’t always know best. Sometimes, you just need to ask a professional.  The WALK has partnered with Alexey Kats, owner of ARCHITEQT Salon and Gallery, to create a monthly column just for that purpose. You asked the questions, and he answered. Below are Alexey’s solutions to the top three questions you asked last month.

Question: I like my hair, which is long, layered, but it tends to look the same from day to day because I like to wear it down. I am also not very good at complicated hairstyles. What are some ways to style it differently without cutting or coloring it, given my somewhat limited skills?

Alexey Kats: Braids are the easiest way to go, there are many different looks you can get by braiding hair.

A couple of other tricks are using a big barrel curling iron on the ends to give it a quick loose wave or using Velcro rollers to give volume and body.

 

Question: My hair generally gets oily a day after I shower—I usually end up having to wear it up if I don’t shower every day. Are there any tricks for preventing my hair from getting oily overnight?

Alexey Kats: Since an oily scalp is generally caused by hormones or genes there is no way to stop it completely, but there are some tricks to control it.

  1. Use a scalp cleansing shampoo such as Viviscal or Nioxin.
  2. When you shampoo, focus on lathering just the scalp. This avoids stripping the ends of the oils that keep them from getting dry. When you condition, focus only on the mid shaft and ends. This will keep the scalp from getting oily prematurely.
  3. Give yourself a scalp treatment in the shower. Take a fine tooth comb and exfoliate your scalp with the teeth, followed by a scalp massage. This treatment will open the pores on the scalp, releasing excess oil while scraping off the dead skin cells (and it feels good).
  4. Lastly, if you wake up with that oily scalp, dry shampoo will help you get throughout the day by absorbing those oils until you can get back to your shampoo bottle.

 

 

Question: I have thin hair, and I like that it generally looks sleek and straight.  However, is there any way I can make my hair appear to have more volume without it seeming curly, teased, or overdone?

Alexey Kats: So glad you asked this question! In February, L’Oreal launched an amazing product called True Grip. It’s a powder that you sprinkle on your roots. It instantaneously  give you more volume. We lovingly refer to it as Hair Crack because you get addicted to this product, fast.

Stay tuned for more advice from Alexey on the 15th of every month. In the meantime, check out Alexey’s salon, ARCHITEQT on 10th Street between Spruce and Locust.

– The WALK Magazine