Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Ben Simmons out here looking like a live action Count from Sesame Street.
The Met Gala took place on Monday night, and it’s a chance for everyone in the world to see wild, cutting-edge fashion and pretend we know things about high fashion. With dresses that cost more than our cars, and the only appropriate venue for men to wear capes, the Gala is a symphony of clothes you could never wear anywhere but the steps of The Met.
This is a huge celebrity event, which naturally means athletes walked the carpet on Monday night as well. I poured over photos of all 300+ celebs in attendance to find every athlete who was there, and now I’m going to try and grade their looks despite the fact most of my clothes come from Old Navy and I buy my coats out of season like Keon Coleman.
Ben Simmons
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
I think the meaning of this look is a lumberjack with a dark past. The plaid seems to evoke “Canadian woodsman,” but everything else is “Bond Villain.” I can only assume the briefcase holds an NBA enemies list of people Simmons plans to get revenge on when he takes over the world.
This is one of those “dress for the job you want” looks. In this case I think Simmons wants to be Count von Count in a live action Sesame Street movie.
Overall this is bold, Met-appropriate fashion — ruined by sunglasses that don’t match and an orange watch that distracts from the look.
6/10
Odell Beckham Jr.
Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
This is fine. It’s fine. I think it’s fine.
I’m half trying to convince myself this is fine. What OBJ did here was take a half-step. Dude wanted to be a little loud, but not go “full Met Gala.” I get it. However, I think this was just a little lazy. It’s not true to his fashion styles, tries a little took hard, and I feel like he might have just borrowed this from Lil Nas X.
When it comes to the Met Gala my feeling is that you can either just totally go for it and be wild, or just wear something clean and avoid the high fashion part all together. This missed the mark for me.
4/10
Dwyane Wade
Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
You know what? I can absolutely get down with this. I don’t wholly believe this is any different from how Dwyane Wade would dress from a normal night out, but that’s okay! You don’t always need to go big out of the pressure of the Met Gala. He’s got a fun little piece of jewelry, painted his nails, and more or less called it a night with the look.
I think it absolutely works.
8/10
Lewis Hamilton
Photo by Gotham/Getty Images
Oh hell yes! Lewis Hamilton is dressed like what I aspire to be: A chef who moonlights as a crime fighting vigilante.
This has some of the same features of the Simmons look (mostly the cape), but then I came across video of him explaining how he decided on his attire for the night and it pushed my appreciation of it into the stratosphere.
10/10
Angel Reese
Photo by Aliah Anderson/Getty Images
This just rules. Everything about it rules. I love it. I’m obsessed with it. Angel Reese went a little whimsical, a little playful, and still high fashion enough that you wouldn’t wear this anywhere else, but it’s totally appropriate for the event.
There were a lot of long, flowing gowns at the gala, but Reese went a different direction and absolutely killed it.
11/10
Nnamdi Asomugha
Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
Congrats to Nnamdi Asomugha for being at the Met Gala. Put in just a little work next year, please.
1/10
