THE JOURNAL

Dressing well for the Costume Institute’s annual Met Gala in New York is an art that could be studied. Play it safe at the so-called Super Bowl of fashion and you’ll fade into obscurity. Go overboard, however, and you run the risk of becoming meme fodder for digital eternity. The sartorial sweet spot is a look hits the theme, is genuinely surprising and makes you look good – all of which demands a mixture of excellent taste, bravery and the best designers in the world on speed dial.
The theme for 2022 was Gilded Glamour and white tie, a celebration of the second part of curator Mr Andrew Bolton’s exhibition In America: An Anthology Of Fashion. A homage to the late 19th century when the country enjoyed huge prosperity, it digs into the origins of extravagant American fashion, which for the dress code means lots of big, bodacious looks worthy of the most decadent time in US history. But who did it best? Read on to see who made MR PORTER’s best-dressed list this year and why.
01.
Mr Paapa Essiedu

Mr Paapa Essiedu. Photograph by Mr Mike Coppola/Getty Images
The actor Mr Paapa Essiedu is establishing himself as a sartorial force to be reckoned with. Wearing a deep teal velvet suit by Off-White, with no shirt underneath and lashings of gold and pearls, it’s the stonking great trousers that make this – no mean feat, but they fall at precisely the right length.
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02.
Mr Evan Mock

Mr Evan Mock. Photograph by Mr Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
There were quite a few corsets on the red carpet this year, but no one did it quite as well as the actor/model/skateboarder Mr Evan Mock. The dramatic ruff, the painted nails and the pinched shoulders of his buttercream Head of State suit make him look like an elegant duke ready to take over the world. And we’d let him.
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03.
Mr Sebastian Stan

Mr Sebastian Stan. Photograph by Ms Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
A potentially rogue inclusion here. The actor Mr Sebastian Stan is not exactly in keeping with the gilded glamour white tie theme, but credit where credit’s due for the way he’s wrangled this pink-on-pink-on-pink look. It’s a colour that the designer Mr Pierpaolo Piccioli has made something of a signature at Valentino and is more usually seen on a ballgown. Its inclusion here has the effect of elevating a casual look into something worthy of the red carpet.
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04.
Gunna

Gunna. Photograph by Mr Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
All caped up like a fancy vampire at midnight, it’s good to see Gunna channelling some old-fashioned glamour here. The look is by Thom Browne – note the embellished dog handbag with matching bow tie – and feels like a marked elevation in the Atlanta rapper’s style.
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05.
Mr Kodi Smit-McPhee

Mr Kodi Smit-McPhee. Photograph Mr Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock
Channelling classic corn-fed Americana with a red, white and blue ensemble, the actor Mr Kodi Smit-McPhee interpreted the Gilded Age in a much more casual way and it paid off. The red leather opera gloves are an unexpected and daring choice that make the look (and keep it on theme), but the effortlessness of the blue denim jeans stops it from becoming too costumey. It’s all about balance.
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06.
Mr Kieran Culkin

Mr Kieran Culkin. Photograph Mr David Fisher/Shutterstock
The actor Mr Kieran Culkin is leaning into his characteristic immaturity with this look – and we mean that as a compliment. The Converse and sunglasses give teenager-at-a-wedding-via-Risky-Business vibes, but Culkin’s charm somehow gives the whole thing gravitas. And what’s more glamorous than gravitas?
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07.
Mr Conan Gray

Mr Conan Gray. Photograph by Mr Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
The singer-songwriter Mr Conan Gray ran with the Gilded Glamour dress code and ran with it hard. Silver sequined trousers, white platforms, a sheer cape and an embellished blouse make for a combination that could look like a Liberace parody in the wrong hands. Gray stepped out looking like a veritable deity – the god of good hair, perhaps – and we worship his gumption.
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