Met Gala Dress Code-Approved Vintage Finds
Per Lilah: February 4, 2025
This Week: With the Met Gala dress code announcement out, I suggest some exhibition- and Met Gala-worthy finds. Beyond shopping tips, there’s a touring showcase of Iris Apfel’s beautiful wares to see, and—according to me and The New York Times—you really should be dining off the fine china every day.
Met Gala-Worthy Patrick Kelly Pieces
The news is out: The 2025 Costume Institute’s Met Gala theme has just been announced! But first, a reminder—this year’s exhibition is titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Think Black Dandy; think W.E.B. Du Bois; think André 3000—get it?
Now for the dress code: “Tailored for You.” I love it. There are so many ways into this theme that align with the exhibition—whether through on-the-nose tailoring, something highly individualistic, or a piece by a Black designer like Patrick Kelly. He’s the subject of this week’s You Really Should Know This (below), and I’ve unearthed some museum-worthy pieces you can shop now—perfect for a Met Gala after-party. (Stylists, pay attention!)
The first is a zebra strapless dress from Patrick Kelly’s Spring 1988 collection. I’ve even found the archival runway video footage for you, below. The dress is also featured in this delightful ad campaign, where Kelly himself appears, topped with a beret and an Eiffel Tower figurine. The image captures the joy-filled essence of Kelly—here was a designer who wanted to make women feel good.
Another Patrick Kelly dress that’s just perfect for this year’s theme is below. This dress was featured in the “Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love” exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the de Young Museum. (The Met has its own version of a button dress.)
Ornamental buttons often decorated Kelly’s pieces—an homage to his grandmother, who mended clothes with a mélange of different buttons. I also love that buttons feel like a fresh, unexpected way into the tailoring theme. Plus, these dresses are fashion museum-level collector’s items!
More Patrick Kelly Picks
A Bill Blass Gown Worn to the Met Gala
I aim for variety in Per Lilah—and yet, each issue has featured Bill Blass! I can’t help but give you another Blass recommendation. This dress is perfect for the Met Gala because I think it’s…already been?
I have a theory that an heir of Patricia Buckley—society doyenne, couture clotheshorse, and Met Gala co-chair who helped elevate the event to its grand position—is selling her pieces on The RealReal. This is the second(!) Bill Blass gown of hers I’ve found on TRR (I featured the first in my very first Per Lilah).
This dress—a moody, molten metallic gown—is just gorgeous. See how Buckley wore it to the 1983 Met Gala, which celebrated “Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design.” And what makes it even more perfect for this year’s theme? Iman walked this exact dress down the Bill Blass Fall 1983 runway.
One Rive Gauche, Two Sizes!
A couple of weeks ago, I started denoting the sizes on all my vintage finds. They’re helpful—though only somewhat, given how sizing has shifted over the decades. It’s always best to know your measurements when shopping online.
But every once in a while, you’ll find something you love in multiple sizes! Like this Rive Gauche gold satin jacket with an asymmetrical button front. So chic.
More Chic Things—No Context Needed
Very Wearable Bob Mackie
Wearable Bob Mackie (not to be confused with his Wearable Art QVC diffusion line) is just as good as his showgirl, sheer, bedazzled getups.
Mackie dressed those who dared to bare—walking so designers like Elie Saab could run (as far as sheer dressing goes). I think we’ve officially hit peak sheer (I refuse to give the moment any more attention, but yes, I’m talking about the Grammys), so here are some lovely, not sheer, and very wearable Bob Mackie pieces.
My Hero Vitamin C Serum
I’m not sure how the BeautyStat Vitamin C serum came into my life—likely a fashion-event goodie bag—but I’m so glad it did. I’ve been buying and replacing bottles ever since.
This serum is one of the few things that calms the rosacea-red in my cheeks. It contains Vitamin C in its purest form—stabilized 20% L-Ascorbic Acid that does not oxidize. (What does that mean, exactly? No idea.) But essentially, it’s potent.
Don’t overindulge—just a thin layer every couple of days is all you need.
Iris Apfel Collectibles
Pieces from Iris Apfel’s extraordinary collection of fashion objects, jewelry, and accessories are going up for auction at Christie’s in Unapologetically Iris: The Collection of Iris Apfel. The sale is open and closes on February 13—so go ahead and place your bid!
I’ve called out two of my favorite pieces below. But even if you’re not shopping, the collection is worth browsing for a dose of color-packed inspiration.
Select highlights will be on view in:
Miami Design District (January 24–25)
The Colony Hotel, Palm Beach (January 29–31)
Christie’s New York (February 8–12)
Get Me Patrick…Kelly!
Before there was Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton, before Telfar Clemens’ bags took over the arms of every cool girl in New York, there was Patrick Kelly—the first Black American designer inducted into Paris’ Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter in 1988. Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1954, Kelly’s journey from the Deep South to the fashion capital of the world is one to marvel.
Known for his playful, joyfully subversive designs, Kelly adorned his body-conscious dresses with mismatched buttons (a nod to his grandmother, who would replace lost buttons with whatever was on hand), oversized bows, and hearts—his signature motif. His work was also a reclamation of Black imagery, incorporating racially charged iconography, like golliwogs and watermelon prints, in ways that confronted and recontextualized their histories.
Kelly’s meteoric rise was fueled by his infectious energy, a sharp sense of humor, and the support of fashion’s elite, including Pierre Bergé and Grace Jones—plus Bette Davis, who, at 78, became Kelly’s most fabulous and unlikely muse (see them together, below). Sadly, his career was cut short—he died of complications from AIDS in 1990 at just 35. But his legacy endures: from the fearless way he celebrated Black culture to the exuberance of his designs, Patrick Kelly remains a name that fashion lovers really should know.
On Why You Should Always Use the Good China
The New York Times published the lovely piece “Yes, It’s OK to Use the Fine China.” It starts… “Joan Didion once said that she used her ‘good’ silver every day, because ‘every day is all there is.’” It’s inspired me rethink my weeknight table settings. In case you’re curious, here’s Didion’s Spode Chinese Rose pattern which sold at auction a couple years ago.
My homage to TRR — as told through the lens of Joyful Grief:
https://joyfulgrief.substack.com/p/the-party-and-the-realreal-is-on