STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A big annual fundraiser for a New York museum is a moment for celebrities to shine. The Met Gala is one of New York's swankiest social events.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Last night's ball honored the fashion designer Rei Kawakubo, so the clothes were everything. Singer Katy Perry wore this red dress with a long train.
INSKEEP: And a wispy red veil.
GREENE: And she had these little metal curlicues along with rectangular mirrors that were attached to the side of her head. Steve, I'm no fashion expert, but I wonder if she was trying to go for, like, most glamorous communication satellite or something like that.
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Well, if so, she got there. Rihanna wore a dress designed by the guest of honor's fashion label. The dress from Rei Kawakubo looked like lots of big red flower pedals all smashed together. She added red heels with straps that wrapped all the way up her legs. And she talked with Vogue magazine about putting it all on.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING0
RIHANNA: It's actually really easy. It's like booty shorts and...
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: And these shoes.
RIHANNA: ...You buckle some snaps.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Oh, these shoes.
RIHANNA: The shoes, now, took me an hour to get into.
GREENE: That's about how long it takes me to put my shoes on in the morning.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
GREENE: All the dresses were one of a kind, not something you can grab at the mall. But a lot of people played along on social media by trying to fake the very same outfits they saw on the red carpet. One guy went for the Rihanna look. He wore red boxer shorts, showed a little leg wrapped in red string and held a pile of colorful clothing in front of his body.
INSKEEP: OK.
GREENE: Maybe not exactly Met Gala material, but quite an event it sounds like.
INSKEEP: Maybe next year.
GREENE: Yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF YPPAH'S "SEPARATE WAYS FOREVER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
