Anna Wintour will be taking zero prisoners with this year’s Met Gala. Presumably horrified at the sight of A$AP Rocky turning up to her beloved red carpet in a quilted grandma’s BLANKET, Troye Sivan in a TANK TOP, and Frank Ocean in a CAP, the world’s most famous magazine editor has decreed the fundraiser’s 2022 theme… Gilded Glamour. 

Much to the dismay of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who would perhaps prefer if the annual event had been transformed into a soup kitchen) Wintour is demanding glitz, pizzaz, and gold, flanked by this year’s co-hosts Regina King, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Alongside Tom Ford, and Instagram’s Adam Moressi, Wintour will also be an honorary co-chair, adding to her editor-in-chief, artistic director, global chief content officer, and global editorial director titles at Condé Nast. 

Of course, setting a theme for the Met Gala is more of a suggestion than an obligation, with most attendees flexing as much imagination as it takes to scroll through Vogue Runway. Of the recent shows, celebs will have their pick of golden gowns from Schiaparelli, Area, Louis Vuitton, and Moschino, while stylists will no doubt be jostling for that hulking, pleated-metallic dress from Balenciaga’s SS20 collection. For the few guests who actually bother to copy and paste the theme into Google, they may find a reference point in and among the fashion from the Gilded Age – all corsets, long-boned bodices, opera gloves, hourglass silhouettes, and décolleté-cuts – which defined the era of rapid economic growth, extending from 1870 to 1900 in the US. 

Gilded Glamour will be the second instalment of the Met’s all-American double bill, the first being In America: A Lexicon of Fashion. Click through the gallery below to travel back over the most memorable looks served at last year’s event.