Jennifer Lopez attended this year’s Met Gala, and I don’t think Ben went with her? One year, Ben did go to the gala but J.Lo walked the carpet solo, but it doesn’t appear that they did the same thing this year. J.Lo wore this Ralph Lauren look and… no. It fell flat. I mean, her body looks amazing and I like the idea of the design more than the execution.

Dua Lipa was one of the co-chairs of this year’s Met Gala, which basically means that Anna Wintour likely had to approve of Dua’s look. Dua chose a vintage 1992 Chanel (bridal) gown and paired it with giant diamonds from Tiffany & Co. The look was, overall, not really a serve. I mean, it’s vintage Chanel, it’s fine, but the effect was very… prairie/prom/bridal and I’m not sure that was what she wanted.

Roger Federer and his wife Mirka – Roger was one of the co-chairs of this year’s gala, and he’s good friends with Anna Wintour (she adores him). I hoped that he would wear something crazy, but he just pulled out a nice tuxedo. Mirka is killing it though, I love her Valentino dress.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Lil’ Nas X was a bejeweled cat at the Met Gala in this Dior look, styled by Pat McGrath. Vogue reports that this look took 9 hours and that the pearls and crystals were sourced from all over the world by a team of people. His body was the main attraction and he looks like a fitness model. I tried to see if he’s talked about his fitness and nutrition and he sort-of has, just saying that he works out a few times a week and that rehearsals keep him fit. He’s also said he has a fast metabolism.

Lil’ Nas just meowed when he was asked about his look! I did lol

pic.twitter.com/2vzxYu8OhE

— pussy (@LilNasX) May 2, 2023

Miranda Kerr was also in Dior. She looked absolutely beautiful and I love the way the embroidered beads spread out down the skirt. This is a very staid gown but it works.

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Alexandra Daddario was kind of washed out in this nude Dior with scalloped tiers. The coloring is all wrong. Her darker hair is kind of throwing off the look too. She’s so pretty though.

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I’m including model Alton Mason, whom I wasn’t familiar with before last night. He’s walked the runway for Chanel. He described this as a Chanel bridal look and I definitely noticed him on the carpet. I loved this. It’s very Lil Nas!

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photos credit: Cover Images, Getty and via Instagram

Cardi B is such a fashionista. She loves going to fashion shows, she loves walking red carpets and she especially loves the Met Gala. Cardi changed her look like four times at this year’s Met Gala, but for most of the carpet, she wore this Thom Browne Chen Peng look which was clearly based on the entire aesthetic of Karl Lagerfeld as a person and his designs. I loved how many women did variations of “interpreting Karl Lagerfeld’s look,” rather than grabbing a Chanel frock. There was so much ingenuity at play with how people interpreted the theme.

Janelle Monae wore Thom Browne (Cardi did too, in a different look). The fashion critics were going crazy about this but I find it… surprisingly unremarkable? There was the hooped “costume,” and then she removed various parts of the costume to reveal a sheer hoop skirt, and her bra and panties. Lady Gaga did something similar one year.

Olivia Rodrigo in Thom Browne. I love this? It’s great, minus the baby-bangs. That was a (terrible) trend last night too – so many baby bangs.

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Teyana Taylor in Thom Browne. I love this too, such a clever interpretation. Thom Browne really did an amazing job with their ladies.

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Bella Ramsey in Thom Browne. She’s lovely and I love that she chose something which makes her comfortable.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid and Getty.

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The Met Gala was a lot of fun last night. So many celebrities had stories about working with Karl Lagerfeld and the fashion was playful and fun. There were plenty of cat-themed purses and some people dressed as Karl’s beloved cat, Choupette. Doja Cat had the most buzz early on as she showed up in this Oscar de la Renta sequin and feather white gown with a little cat-ear hood. Notably she was sporting prosthetics to make her look like a cat. This is striking, but it’s like a high end version of a lazy girl’s Halloween costume – throw on some cat ears and a sexy dress and call it a day. It could be a little more creative, you know?

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Amanda Seyfried got the better Oscar de la Renta look in this “custom gold and platinum draped bugle bead embroidered dress.” She’s one of those celebrities who makes you go “ooh who is that?” when you see her from far away. Her styling is perfection and I absolutely love this gown. She looks amazing.

I know Jared Leto should maybe get his own post since he showed up in a giant fluffy cat costume, but f this guy. I can’t stand him. He regularly pulls stunts at the Met Gala, and this is no different. He was basically a mascot. Anyone else could have taken that hat off and I would love this look honestly, it’s fun. I can’t find a designer ID yet but I’ll update when I do. He usually wears Gucci.

Jared Leto removes a giant fluffy cat suit at the #MetGala to reveal another outfit. https://t.co/m94XaFKHbE pic.twitter.com/ZK4p2gI0Bg

— Variety (@Variety) May 1, 2023

photos credit: Cover Images and via Instagram

Rihanna and ASAP Rocky arrived last and not-so-fashionably late to this year’s Met Gala, more than 20 minutes after most of the gala livestreams and white-carpet shows ended. When Rihanna does attend the gala, she usually is the last one on the carpet, so she’s just keeping it real.

Rihanna, who is expecting her second child (much like Serena Williams!), wore a customized look by Valentino. It was based on a Valentino-pink gown shown on a Valentino runway – Rihanna got it done in white, with a “hooded” coat made to look like oversized flower blooms. I’m already seeing people criticizing this as “she looks like cake icing,” but I think it’s such a cool look and she really thought about the theme and how best to interpret it. The fingerless gloves! The sunglasses, the sweeping bridal energy… this is very Lagerfeld. Rocky is in Gucci. He didn’t look great. But whatever, this isn’t about him.

While it wasn’t that bad on the livestream or on TV, in photos, the color of actual gala carpet was SO BAD. I’m mad at the off-white carpet specifically because so many women wore white, and they’re just blending in with the carpet. Think of how Rihanna’s dress would have looked even more dazzling on a dark blue or blood red carpet.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Amazing news, everybody! Serena Williams is pregnant! Serena welcomed her first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, in September 2017. Serena retired from tennis last year specifically because she wanted to expand her family, because Olympia was begging her parents for a little sister (Olympia isn’t interested in a little brother). Well, now it’s all happening. I mean, we don’t know if Serena is expecting a girl or boy, but Alexis knocked her up!

Serena made the announcement on Instagram shortly before she and Alexis arrived on the Met Gala carpet. She wrote on IG: “Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the 3 of us to the Met Gala.” She confirmed the news in multiple interviews on the carpet, and she’s just so excited. Everyone is so happy for them!

Fashion notes: Serena wore Gucci, in a customized piece on the Karl Lagerfeld-theme. I love how many women interpreted the theme as black-and-white-and-pearls. This absolutely has a Lagerfeld feel and a Chanel feel. Serena looks great!

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Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Instagram.

Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston & Chris Hemsworth are just a few celebrities who have never attended the Met Gala. [Just Jared]
Michelle Obama sang “Glory Days” with Bruce Springsteen! [Dlisted]
Review of The End of Sex. [LaineyGossip]
How to feel about the stealth-wealth fashion of Succession. [Pajiba]
Rihanna went to CinemaCon as well. [Go Fug Yourself]
Justice Alito whines about how everyone hates SCOTUS. [Jezebel]
Irina Shayk looks so much like Bella Hadid in these pics. [Egotastic]
Chris Pratt had to audition for GOTG so many times. [Buzzfeed]
Why in the world did Lori Harvey attend the Prince’s Trust gala? [RCFA]
I love how every Sister Wives update these days is “and then this wife moved out and she’s living her best life now.” [Starcasm]
I hope Bonnie Raitt is okay! [Seriously OMG]
Pope Francis tells Hungary: don’t shut the door on immigrants. [Towleroad]

There has been a sustained campaign over the past year to make “Queen Camilla” not only palatable, but someone “beloved.” They can never tell the truth about the bodies in the streets which Camilla has left in her wake, nor can they put a bow on Camilla and Charles’s marriage knowing full well how many lives they destroyed. Currently, Camilla’s popularity is pretty low, at least depending on which make-believe poll you look at. One poll, published in the Telegraph, claims that Camilla and the Duchess of Sussex are “the least popular family members,” which begs the question… why are they still f–king polling on Meghan? Anyway, curiously enough, Page Six did a big piece about why the queen consort is terrible and terribly unpopular. Some highlights:

Tina Brown on Camilla’s coronation: “Camilla’s is the greatest image rehab in history. She deserves a crown just for toughing it out.”

Strong-arming QEII: The decades-long image-rehabilitation campaign came to its most dramatic moment last year, when there was a “sustained campaign” to “strong arm” Queen Elizabeth to endorse Camilla as queen consort shortly before her death, multiple sources claimed. On February 5, 2022 — the eve of her Platinum Jubilee — the late Queen wrote in a touching letter: “And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes king, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as queen consort as she continues her own loyal service.” But the entire affair left a sour taste in some courtiers’ mouths, with the announcement overshadowing a day of supreme emotion for Charles’ mother. February 6 was not just the 70th anniversary of her becoming queen, it was the anniversary of her beloved father, King George V’s, death.

Courtiers were upset with Charles: Being willing to take the spotlight from Queen Elizabeth, the source said, was a sign to some of the aggression of Charles’ campaign to make Camilla queen. “There was a sustained behind-the-scenes campaigning to get Queen Elizabeth to publicly endorse the title ‘Queen Consort’; the news hijacked the jubilee,” one palace source told Page Six. “Why not let her have her day?”

Charles & Camilla are only popular because of QEII: The new king and queen are basking in the glow of his mother, the source said: “You have the knock-on effect from the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and the queen’s funeral. There is a general warm glow over everything royal.”

Memories of Diana: But for those who care for Diana, Saturday’s crowning brings different emotions. A source who was very close to Diana told Page Six: “To celebrate Camilla’s coronation will be very, very difficult. Supporters of Diana just know that she had a raw deal and will take no pleasure from what they see on Saturday.” Those Diana loyalists see Camilla’s victory as having come to a price of defeat for Diana. They say that many of the guests in Westminster Abbey are the friends of Charles who privately trashed the princess’ mental health in whispered conversations in aristocratic drawing rooms and during fox hunts. “Camilla is the one who benefited from all of this; her man is now king. It is dirty work, no way around it,” the source said.

[From Page Six]

It’s beyond clear that last year, QEII wanted to give Prince Andrew the money to settle out of court with Virginia Giuffre, so a quid pro quo was worked out: Charles got his mother to sign off on “Queen Camilla,” and in exchange, Charles signed off on giving Andrew the money and “protecting” Andrew long-term. The thing is, as we know now, QEII was in pretty bad shape. I would argue that it wasn’t really Charles “strong-arming” his mother and more like Charles making the decision, as de facto regent, to simply force his mother to sign off on Queen Camilla. Even the wording from QEII’s statement was purely Charles – his office wrote it, and QEII’s office signed off on it and that was that. And yes, everyone knows that some variation of that situation went down, that a frail and elderly queen was manipulated twenty different ways by her sons and her staffers. There’s a reason why Harry made a point of saying that he visited her to make sure she had the right people around her.

As for the stuff about Diana basically haunting the proceedings… yes. Camilla will never be beloved or even liked by the general public. It’s not just the Diana-fans who were around to witness Charles and Camilla’s appalling behavior, it’s all of the new generations of people who simply think that Camilla is a racist, manipulative old horse.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Weeks ago, I read a piece about how most European monarchies have made efforts to tone down their coronations over the past 20 years. While there is still some pomp, monarchies in Spain and The Netherlands have tried to downsize and simplify their coronations. Sweden will likely have a downsized coronation when Victoria becomes queen as well. But not the UK, not King Charles. He wants the razzle-dazzle. He wants all of his royal and political contemporaries to trot over to London to watch a billionaire’s hat ceremony. And he wants the British taxpayer to pick up the exorbitant costs. Originally, this whole mess was supposed to cost $100 million, which was already bad enough. But now it looks like it will cost upwards of £250 million, mostly due to security.

A massive security operation will push the cost of the Coronation of King Charles III into the realm of £250 million. A huge chunk – around £150 million – will be needed to deploy thousands of police officers and protection squads, insiders reveal. The rest goes on staging the ceremony and three days of celebrations.

The eye-watering cost to taxpayers is despite the King’s wishes for a slimmed-down, cost-effective monarchy. It cost Britain £1.57 million to stage the Queen’s Coronation in 1953 – around £47 million in today’s money. But ever-increasing security threats and a series of planned domestic protests have sent costs for Saturday’s event – codenamed Operation Golden Orb – soaring way above earlier estimates of £100 million.

Home Office sources revealed last night that a special air traffic control schedule has been drawn up for dignitaries flying in. Security will be tightened at landing spots, which include RAF Northolt in Middlesex and RAF Biggleswade, Beds, from Thursday. It comes amid fears that climate change protesters could target the private jet arrivals.

A major operation to stop activists sabotaging Coronation Day itself will see huge numbers of armed officers on the streets, snipers on rooftops, and police drones monitoring crowds for suspicious activity. Groups like Just Stop Oil and Republic could team up to cause disruption. Special Forces will also be on standby as part of the UK Counter Terrorism Defence Mechanism, with Blue Thunder 2 helicopters poised in the event of an attack.

A well-placed Home Office insider said: “Security alone will be up to £150 million, possibly more. It’s a crazy sum, but this is one of the biggest public events in recent history. Thousands are involved – many working overtime. Just getting dignitaries into the country and to their accommodation is a hell of an operation in itself. They will mostly be taken by police escort from the airfields.That’s one small cog in this gigantic security machine – there is so much more to the operation.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

Just think about how simple this could have been if only Charles understood that people are not actually eager to celebrate two septuagenarians with deeply problematic personal and familial histories. Charles could have downsized all of this. In fact, he already “downsized” the procession through the streets of London, but that wasn’t a cost-cutting measure, it was because he remains terrified of egg-tossers and Republic’s bullhorns. And don’t give me “inauguarations cost a lot of money too” – inaugurations are a celebration of the democratic process, a celebration of the peaceful transfer of power between democratically elected heads of state. All of this is for a hereditary monarch who is drunk on power.

Some people are not happy about the coronation. This chant… wow.

“You can shove your coronation up your arse” – Celtic fanspic.twitter.com/fLEz38KrqC

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) April 30, 2023

Celtic fans practicing the vow of allegiance to old big ears ….pic.twitter.com/DUOzpZYVZ6

— ROPoem (@R0Poem) April 30, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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Eva Longoria has a new interview with Yahoo! Life talking about her life at home with son Santi, four, and her husband of seven years, Jose Baston. They all make breakfast together in the mornings, Santi helps, and Eva has charts for him so he knows what’s expected and what parts of his day he can control. After that Eva goes about her very efficient day. She’s a bit self congratulatory about how much she gets accomplished while carving out time to spend with her family. At first I found that haughty, but it sounds like it’s her life’s philosophy so I get that. Eva is all about productivity and making sure you’re not wasting time. She’s helping address childhood hunger through her partnership with Kellogg’s and she has a bunch of projects she’s working on, including her podcast, the Flamin’ Hot movie and a CNN series. Here’s more from that interview:

“My husband calls me a sergeant sometimes,” she says. “We have little pictures and little charts for [Santiago] and he gets a sticker when he completes things and if you go out of order, he’ll correct you. He’s like ‘no it’s brushing teeth and then books’ and you’re like ‘yup, yup, you’re right.’”

She considers herself a strict mom, but allows her son to feel in control with freedom to make some choices and express himself. Brushing teeth is a must, but what toothbrush he uses is up to him. Eating vegetables is a non-negotiable, but he gets to decide if it’s broccoli, cauliflower or spinach.

“Allowing him to pick his clothes in the morning, go for it. I don’t care if it matches. I don’t care if socks stick out. I don’t care if you want to wear two different shoes,” Longoria says. “I think that’s important. They have autonomy and they feel like they’re in control of their lives and they are making decisions for themselves and it makes them feel empowered.”

The routines and a supportive team help Longoria balance all the plates she’s juggling…

“I am really good at prioritizing and I’m very efficient,” Longoria says while conducting a Zoom interview and doing a required daily COVID test for work purposes. “I’m not on Instagram hours a day. Who has time to be on Instagram hours a day? If I’m in traffic I do all my calls in the car because when I get home I want to be with Santi. I don’t want to be on the phone. I don’t want to be on the computer. People are always amazed at how much I can get done in a day. Time is my greatest wealth. I’m either spending my time, wasting my time or investing my time, so I try to invest my time.”

[From Yahoo!]

I really like that last quote above, that time is wealth and you have to use it wisely like money. I get a lot done in a day but I definitely struggle with this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled an addictive match 3 game on my phone. I know it’s a waste of time but it’s hard to put down. Eva is proud of managing her time precisely and of not wasting time on Instagram scrolling mindlessly. I suspect a lot of very successful people are like this but don’t reveal the effort they put in to managing their lives. Also, I’ve listened to Eva’s podcast and it’s so well edited and produced. Whatever she’s doing, it’s working.

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Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon and via Instagram