Decorative gowns, exorbitantly priced suits, flashing cameras, and the world’s most influential people in one place, creating one of the most lavish nights of the year, the Met Gala. Formally known as Costume Institute Benefit, the Met is a fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City. With the gala begins the opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit.
This year’s Met Gala bewildered audiences on September 13 as celebrities all across the spectrum stepped out on the red carpet to flaunt their grandiloquent and pompous outfits to the theme: American Independence. Some celebrities acquired more acclamation than others, but it was U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) who truly stole the show.
The most memorable outfit of the night was not decked in jewels or made by a top-of-the-line designer; it instead included a progressive message scribbled across its back, which shocked audiences. AOC attended the Met Gala in a gown designed by Aurora James. Controversy spread over the words painted across the white canvas of the dress in bright red labeled, “Tax the Rich.”
In an article by CNN, AOC stated the gown’s purpose was to raise awareness for wealth inequality. She hoped to use the exposure of the gala to encourage more people to support higher taxes for the economic elite. Though her supporters flooded social media with encouragement for the dress and rallied behind AOC’s execution of her message, others were not impressed by the gown.
While AOC did garner attention for her shocking attire, it will ultimately go towards boosting her image. However, little material change will be made for the poor. Additionally, the added hypocrisy of her attending the gala while the tickets alone cost around $30,000 renders it mute.
The protests occurring outside the gala as AOC was strutting around in her six-figure dress amplifies the sheer irony of AOC’s claims to be raising awareness. During the Met Gala, a Black Lives Matter protest surrounded the Costume Institute that protested the NYPD, and its failure in protecting the communities of New York. The protesters were outraged that the NYPD received nearly $11 billion in funding while the residents struggled to make ends meet.
There is nothing wrong with trying to make a political statement with an outfit. Lil Nas X did this just fine with his suit’s dauntless representation of the Black-Queer experience in America. However, AOC’s gown was more about fanning her image than giving back to the communities that she swore she would. Raising awareness means nothing if that awareness is simply a tool to accumulate social capital for the ones already in power. While AOC prances around in fancy gowns with the elite, remember the minorities fighting for equality and liberation for all.
If AOC is trying to raise awareness for wealth inequality, she should use her platform to amplify those trying to make a material change. Instead, she paraded around in a ballgown surrounded by the same people she attempted to tax. She needs to contribute money where her mouth is, or in this case, where her gown is.
Written by Isaac Yebio of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Charles Wang of Walter Johnson High School