Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Sorta Sophisticated with Pete and Amanda.
All right, so the Met Gala just happened. Do you know anything about this thing? Cause I don't know anything about it. Do you follow it?
[00:00:09] Speaker B: The only thing I know is that celebrities dress up and it's like a one upper.
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Yes. Okay.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: I assume it benefits the Met.
[00:00:17] Speaker A: It. Absolutely. Okay, you already.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: That's it.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: You're sophisticated. Done. Podcast episode over. That's awesome.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: No, but, like, why does it even. Like, what's the whole point of it?
[00:00:24] Speaker A: There's a. There's. Oh, this is what we're going to talk about. I had to learn all this stuff
[00:00:27] Speaker B: besides supporting the Met. Like, I assume that's where it started, but I don't even know.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: That's absolutely how it started. Okay, I got a paint. A paint picture for you so we can hook. We got to hook our audience. Okay. 1948. World War II just ended, and we're in New York, of course. Duh. New York's in, what we call, I guess, rebuild mode after the war, we're going to say. And this woman named Eleanor Lambert. Do you know who Elanor Lambert is? Neither did I.
A fashion publicist. No one ever heard of her, so don't worry about it. Apparently decides to throw a little dinner party at midnight. At midnight. To raise money for a museum at the time that nobody had even heard of. Okay, not the Met. Different museum tickets for 50 bucks each. Which kind of, to be honest, $50 back then was a lot of money. Yeah, it's like $600 today. So that was my first sort of like, oh, shit, this is for rich people, right?
[00:01:14] Speaker B: So was Eleanor rich?
[00:01:16] Speaker A: No. So she wasn't. But the whole idea was to get, like, the rich Manhattan socialites together and help out this little museum. So Anyway, that unremarkable $50 dinner is a thing that eventually became the whole Met Gala. Do you want to guess how much the Met Gala charges today for a seat spoiler? It's not $50.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Well, I figured.
[00:01:39] Speaker A: It's not 50. $75,000. Wow.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: To attend a ticket. Wow.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Do they charge celebrities that or do they get for free because they're a promo?
[00:01:48] Speaker A: No, no, no, no. They are charging. Wow. And here's the thing. It's not like you can even get. You gotta be on the end list. You can't even buy a ticket until you're approved to buy a ticket.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: To buy a ticket.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's some. It's just some serious shit, right? There's, like, somebody in charge of who's really allowed to go? And who's allowed to spend their $75,000. So keep listening. Cause here's what we're gonna learn. This is what we're promising. First, how the $50 fundraiser turned into the most exclusive event on the planet. Amanda, did you know it generates twice as much media attention as the Super Bowl?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Really?
[00:02:19] Speaker A: I never knew that because I'm not in this club. Right. Okay. Second, the whole Is Fashion Really Considered Art? Debate that has been going on, literally, for years and years. The Met is finally taking a stand. This year, they did it. Oh, we're gonna talk about that. And finally, we're gonna talk about how the woman who runs this whole thing is like some sort of fricking dictator, approves every outfit, even banned Donald Trump from ever showing up again.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Wow. He went at some point.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: How's that for. He went a lot. Like, 2004, 2012. He went a lot. Yes. They got banned. Banned, banned. So this is gonna be a good one. All right, welcome back to Sort of Sophisticated, the podcast where culture, curiosity, and chaos collide. I'm Pete, and with me, as always, is Amanda.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Hello, everybody. I'm very excited.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: Pete, I like the way you said, hello, everybody. Why are you excited today? Why?
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Because this is fascinating. Like, I need to know more about this woman who has all this power.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Oh, my. There's. Okay. So this. Actually, this is gonna be a story about three women.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: Three?
[00:03:15] Speaker A: Well, because the woman who started it.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Then there's, like, a woman who continued in between. And then we're going to talk about the one who's the current, though. This is all. This is Woman Power times 10. This is. This is quite remarkable, the story. So I'll be honest. I wasn't super into this when I started doing the research, but I was like, okay, I have to get out of my box. I know shit about the Super Bowl. But if this thing generates twice as much media attention. Super Bowl. I should learn more.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Here we learn.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: And so this is what we did. So here we are.
But first, we got to do official title. So official title is. It's a public museum, so why can't you get in? Oh, Don talk.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Good title.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: I know. I thought so.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: But what's our word of the week?
[00:03:49] Speaker A: Should we even do word of the week anymore?
[00:03:50] Speaker B: I don't. I think we skipped it, like, three weeks.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Two weeks in a row. We screwed up.
We screwed up. Prepend. I feel terrible. I go back, I'm editing episodes. It's not in there. I'm thinking maybe I should just AI it in. I don't know. This totally sucks. Okay, our word of the week this week is. Let's get this right. Valleity.
Valleity, Huh? I don't know. You got anything? Valeity?
[00:04:13] Speaker B: Itty small.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: I don't know.
Wow. Okay. It means a wish or an inclination that is so small. Oh, you are right. But you never actually do anything about it. Like my Valleity to learn Spanish every year.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: Like, I always commit that I'm gonna learn Spanish, and I never do because it's.
[00:04:30] Speaker B: No, but your wish inclination isn't that small. Like, you want to do it, but
[00:04:34] Speaker A: I'm not doing it. So, like, I never actually. I'm not actually doing anything about it. Right. I think I just like the idea of saying I'm going to keep learning Spanish more than actually doing Spanish. I mean, I do duolingo, but, like, what's that, five minutes a day, Right? Like, it sucks. Okay. All right. Valeity.
Do we got this?
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Well, Pete.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: What?
[00:04:51] Speaker B: My velidi on the Met Gala is high or low?
[00:04:55] Speaker A: What do we got?
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Super low.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Super low. Okay, we got.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: So pique my interest. Tell me all about this.
[00:04:59] Speaker A: I feel like that's my job every week. Okay. Before we start, if you like what you're listening to, hit subscribe and follow us. New episodes come out weekly on any of your favorite podcast platforms. We'd love to have you along. Thank you. Okay, so before we do any history, Amanda, I got a PSA this whole thing.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: Because I know absolutely what everybody's thinking, including you, because I was thinking the same thing, and I'm just projecting. So why are we doing an episode on the Met Gala when it's just a bunch of rich people getting dressed up and going to dinner?
[00:05:25] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I get why we're doing it, because it's pop culture. But people talk about.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: But we're trying to go deeper than that. So I was sort of having my moment of like.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: But I'm sure there's history. There's history with everything.
[00:05:33] Speaker A: Right? Right. So I'm Jedi mind tricking us. Because I feel like that's what we should be doing.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: All right, here we are.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Which, by the way, why didn't we do an episode on. It's. I mean, it's literally May 4th. Why didn't we do an episode on Star?
[00:05:43] Speaker B: I don't know. You gotta talk to the guy who picks our podcast episodes.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: I think.
[00:05:46] Speaker B: I think has a better.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: I think somebody needs to have a long, long, hard talk with that guy. All Right. Fine. Okay, here's my Jedi mind trick. So the Met Gala is technically a fundraiser for a public museum.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Okay, technically, yes. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It's not private anything. Anybody can go. And the Costume Institute, the department that the Met Gala is actually raising money for, has something like 30,000 different clothes or, like, costume or outfits, whatever they write, like historical ones. Like, for, like, hundreds and hundreds of years now. Like, a really long time. So, like, things people wore. By the way, this isn't just, like, from movie theaters, right? This is, like, what people really wore in, like, old times. So, theoretically, all that stuff is there for the general public to see. And technically, if a bunch of rich people want to buy $75,000 tickets to dress up for one night, we're all benefiting because rich people decided to help subsidize us being able to get into the museum for free. So I'm arguing it's a good thing, even though it's totally snobby.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Does this make sense? Yes. That's my Jedi mind track. Is that fair?
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Yes. So, wait, does the Met Gala, then fund the whole museum?
So, no, just the department.
[00:06:52] Speaker A: Just that department. So only one part. So I thought, right? I thought, okay, well, wait a second. If it's funny, the whole museum? That's amazing. But really, it's just that Costume Institute part.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: But why do they need so much money?
[00:07:00] Speaker A: It's expensive. This thing's huge. It's in New York City. It's land. It's taxes. You know, it's insane. I don't know. Whatever. Okay. This was, like, a lot of rabbit hole digging to figure this whole thing out. So the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, like, the Met, it's like, what, a top five museum in the world?
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: Okay. Enormous. Millions and millions and millions of different pieces on display. Incredible. Okay. Have you ever been in?
[00:07:24] Speaker B: I've not been in. We've took a picture on the front steps to say that we've been to the Met, but we did not go.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: But you want to go on? Well, the girls were too small.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Yeah. I have not been in. Like, I was a kid. I was a teenager when I went, so I. I got to go back. But anyway. Okay. So since the whole thing's free, it's got to pay for itself. You have any idea what the actual.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: But it's not free.
[00:07:42] Speaker A: It. It is. So, technically, it's free for New York residents, New Jersey residents, Connecticut residents.
Everybody else has to pay. 30 bucks.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: I was gonna say, but 30 bucks
[00:07:50] Speaker A: to get into the mat. That's not that. And by the way, that only started happening, like, I don't know, in the last, like, 10 or 15.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Yeah. It wasn't that long ago. Okay. It was free for a very long time. Up until at least the 2000s, it was free.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: So is it not funded by, like, taxes? Because you said that it was these three states that are able to go in for free, so I assume subsidized by taxes.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Right. So that's what I thought, too. But it's really only, like, 15% of their actual operating. But you know what the operating budget is for the met annually?
[00:08:12] Speaker B: No.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: $300 million a year.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:08:14] Speaker A: $300 million to operate this stupid thing. Right. Okay, I shouldn't say stupid thing. It's amazing. Don't get me wrong. It's incredible. So 15% comes from taxes. The feds, like, chip in a little bit, but, like, that's sort of it. The other 85% comes from massive endowments that have been around now. I mean, think about it, for, like, 150 years. So, like, rich people donating their life savings, whatever, to this, like, over the years and years and years. And then the rest sort of comes from regular rich people, like, they're donating now and then just admissions, like the $30 tickets, the gift store, the. The whatever restaurants, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Well, question. Hold on before you go a little bit further.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: When you say endowment, just for everyone who's listening, basically, it's a fund that people will donate money to.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: And then they will use that fund invested in somehow in order to create a revenue stream.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: For.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: And because that developed literally 150 years ago, that endowment, you can imagine, is massive now.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Well, it would have to be, because it sounds like they need about 250 million.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: They need to. 250 comes from endowments alone. Out of the 300 million.
And then the 50 million comes from, like, the taxes and all the other crap. Right, Right. We're talking about billions of dollars because the metal endowment. So I look that up because I was freaking out. The Mets endowment right now is worth $3.5 billion. So, like, what, you did 5, 7% of that every year that it turned $50 million. Yeah. You know, it's incredible. Okay, so I got to go back to the whole Costume Institute part so they don't get any of that money. That's why they have to have the Met Gala, because the same building. So they are now. So they weren't. But we're Going to talk about that. So go back all the way to the beginning. Beginning when we were talking about, is fashion really art? I don't know. Now it gets. This gets really weird. So, long story short is the Costume Institute wanted to become part of the Met. And the deal was they could join back in 1946. 48, I think it was like. 46, yeah. But they had to fund themselves. And they agreed because they were like, we really want to do this? Because this whole problem is nobody considered fashion art at the time. It's clothes. It's not like paintings and sculptures and like. Like artifacts.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: It's a way of expression.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: Huh?
[00:10:10] Speaker B: It's a way of expression.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: Okay, well, you're buying that? I wasn't buying it. Okay, Right. So the Met decides clothes can be there, but they're gonna pay for themselves. And since literally all the way back then, nobody ever decided to renegotiate, so the Met Gala has to raise all its own funds for the Costume Institute.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: And how much usually is that?
[00:10:28] Speaker A: 30 million bucks.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:10:30] Speaker A: They make annually 30 million bucks on that dinner. It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible how they do this whole thing.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: But what's fascinating is I feel like someone really should renegotiate that because of the Met Gala. That is how people know the Met.
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Right. So you would.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Which is so funny because I immediately thought Met Gala, it funds the Met, but it doesn't. Not at all. It funds the costume.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: And little by little by little, they've been getting in. It started as a completely separate entity, and then they were allowed to be in the building and so on and so forth, and they're working their way up. All right. Also, super random rabbit hole I went down when I was looking at like the whole Met Gala stuff. Apparently Vogue. Cuz that's who runs. Yeah, yeah. They run this whole thing now. They make their own separate revenue off of this. Now. So the $30 million comes from like the $75,000 that, you know, ticket, and that goes to the Met. But Vogue, through advertising, the red carpets, the sponsorship, all that social media, they're getting their cut. So I'm arguing Vogue is generating at least, if not more revenue just for their company because of what they're selling from an advertising perspective. Right? They don't get any of the ticket money, but they get all their other money because they were smart enough to figure out how. So my guess is about equal. 30 million bucks. Vogue. 30 million bucks. Matt, it's incredible.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: It is a money maker is what you're saying. One night 60 million.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: I know. Just like that, right? And then, like you said to a point of, like, media attention. The fact that it gets so much media attention. Like what? Way more than supertisement.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: That's how.
[00:11:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I. This year, this is. This is where it's all coming to a head, right? Because this year, this is sort of why I picked it. They're finally, like, taking a stand on the whole fashion is art debate. The debate, right? Where you were saying, well, you know, fashion is sort of considered. And I'm like, yeah, no, not even close. Yeah, no, the meth's decided, so it's kind of a big deal.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Well, it has to be art.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: It happened. Spoiler. It happened. They're saying it's art.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: So when did this all start?
[00:12:20] Speaker A: So it all starts at. Actually, not 1946. You gotta go back 10 years before. Like, 1936. 10 years before. So some woman named Irene Lewison started a museum at that time called the Museum of Costume Art just in New York. It was totally separate thing. But then in 1946, it ran into money problems and it couldn't pay for itself anymore because this woman was trying to figure this all out on her own. So she went to the Met and she's like, hey, can we merge with you? And they were like, yeah, but figure out how to fund all your own shit. Right? So that's sort of how the whole concept started with this one lady, Irene Lewison.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: So we tip our hats to Irene.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: We do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But go back even further, to 1905. And this whole thing actually started as a community theater project. That's where it all went. So Irene, this woman, and her sister Alice were volunteers at a place called the Henry Street Settlement House, where they would teach theater and, like, dance classes to, like, poor immigrant children coming from Europe or wherever they were coming from to land here.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: They were teaching the arts.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: They were teaching the arts yards. So the Lower east side, that's exactly what they were doing. Yes. And they needed costumes for all their little productions and plays. And you would get a kick out of this whole thing, right? So one day they were like, oh, my God, Irene and Alice. This cut. Like, we have a lot of stuff now. This has, like, real historical value. Like, maybe fashion designers could one day use it and study it and, like, learn from it and be inspired for, like, making new costumes and so on and so forth. So she created the Museum of costume art in 1937. That then turned into being part of the Met by 1946.
I thought. I thought that was kind of a cool little story. Okay, wait, where was I? Okay, so now the Costume Institute is now part of the met for, like, two or three years, like 1946 to 1948. And then the first woman, Eleanor Lambert, this is the first of the three high powered, awesome ladies that, like, changed the face of this whole thing. I guess she was sort of some sort of badass fashion publicist that nobody ever heard of in the 1940s, but whatever, right?
[00:14:12] Speaker B: She was in the circles.
[00:14:13] Speaker A: She was in the circle. Right. So she decides if this thing's actually going to work, it needs real marketing. Like, this is the serious visibility. So she's the one who decided to go do the midnight fundraiser. $50. Da, da, da. All the rich people come. All the socialites. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it works. She kept doing it, and that happened for, like, 20 years.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Did she run it for 20 years?
[00:14:29] Speaker A: She ran it. Wow. Yes, she did, or her people did? Yes, absolutely. It was her. So. So she's a starter. And then the next woman comes in. Do you know the next woman's name? Do you know any of these women's names?
[00:14:37] Speaker B: No.
[00:14:37] Speaker A: Oh, really? Oh, okay. I knew the last one. Okay, so the second one that comes in is Diana Vreeland. So Diana Vreeland was the editor in chief of Vogue magazine in the 1970s.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Well, that would track. I should have guessed Vogue. That was bad.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Vogue was super famous by this time already. So was Diana Vreeland, like, serious? So by 1972, Eleanor's out. Diana decides to become a special, like, consultant to the Costume Institute and decides she's going to help out. And from there it just went bonkers. So first of all, she was the one who moved the whole exhibition or whatever up from the basement, so. Oh, I'm sorry, go back. So it was in the basement. So it moved from. It moved from wherever it was in New York when Irene and Alice were doing it. Yeah, yeah. To when Eleanor got a hold of it, she was able to get it into the basement. Okay, okay. So now Diane Vreeland's like, yeah, no, we're not doing this thing in the basement. So she's like, bullshit second class citizenship, right? So she moves the whole thing up to, like, a regular wings part. Yes, yes, yes. Thank you very much. Sorry. And then she moves the actual annual dinner. So Eleanor was doing the dinners in, like, places around the city, like the Waldorf Astoria or the Rainbow Room or like, wherever, but she moved it to inside the Met itself. So now people could say they had Dinner quote inside the Met.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a big deal.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: She also had this genius idea. This woman was an absolute genius to invite famous people instead of just the New York socialites. So now way more high profile. So Elton John, Diana Ross, Cher, all these famous people from 1970s start showing up like real celebrities with real teeth. Right. And then the biggest thing that she did was she started to match the theme, like the dinner party theme with the theme of the exhibition they were deciding to show. Yes. So they were able to start to bring stuff together in a way that Eleanor wasn't doing yet. So Eleanor gets all the credit for jumpstarting it, but Diana is exponentially, like, blowing this. She's editor in chief of Folk magazine. This woman's incredible. Right? So, like, I was reading about this one thing where she did Russian costumes one year, and so she made the party theme Russian. But then, remember the Disneyland episode we did with the smell of the Smellerator or whatever, that thing? So they pumped in perfume that was specifically Russian whatever that, like, through the air ducts. So, like, it would even smell like a Russian perfumed room. So the whole vibe came together.
[00:16:50] Speaker B: So, like, immersive is, I think, the word you're looking for.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: Immersive. I like that. So she, like, she turned it into an event. She turned it into a.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: A thing.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: A thing like. Yes. Yeah.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Not just a dinner, but now it is a whole.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Now it's a whole thing. Okay. So then that goes on another 20 years. So now, whatever. I don't know exactly. Mid 70s to the mid 90s. Okay. 1995 or something like that. And this is where the third woman walks in. Okay, Maybe you said you didn't hear of her. Anna Wintour.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Really? Okay. That's actually the one I did know. Okay, so she. She's still doing it now.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: So she has. I mean, it just went bonkers. Also editor in chief of Vogue. So same thing.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: She take over because Diana was no longer the.
[00:17:25] Speaker A: Didn't take over for her. Just further on down the line.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So by mid-1990s, Anna was, like, by far the most powerful person in the fashion industry. Like, times 10. Not. Not even close. So she takes over as chair of the Met Gala in 1995, and she's been doing it every year since then.
[00:17:38] Speaker B: Like I said, that's super cool. That, like, it's kind of this lineage of women who have just kind of, like, handed down the baton.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: So is Anna the one who has, like, formally banned Donald Trump?
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Anna. Anna. Is Anna Is the Donald Trump banner. The dtb. Dtb. Donald Trump banner. Yeah. Yeah, totally. She can decide.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Everyone loves Anna, apparently.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Right. Hey, you said it like, she decides everything. Not. Not. I mean, of course, who you can ban. But like, I remember I was saying at the beginning, you can't even buy a ticket.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: So you first have to get on her list and she has to allow you to accept you. And then you could buy the $75,000 ticket. And then after all of that, she even decides what outfit you're allowed to wear. Like, what designer and what outfit. So you have to show her who you're working with. Yes, yes.
[00:18:21] Speaker B: But, like, if you think about it.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: Or you can't even wear the outfit
[00:18:23] Speaker B: in this, like, space.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:18:26] Speaker B: That it's actually just live art.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: That's what you're arguing.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: I would. I would say it's performance art. You have all of these people who are coming in curated outfits created by designers to make a statement.
That is living art.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Right in front of.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Down to the. What is it? The Laguna Beach Playhouse. Yeah, the. The festival they have down there. Festival of the Arts.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. With the paintings that.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Okay, I could.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: That's called performance art.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Yeah, Yeah, I can get into that.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: I think it's real, what they do down there.
[00:18:55] Speaker A: I think we digress. Sort of agreeing with you right now. So anyway. Okay. Yeah. So back on track. Sorry. So remember how I said I think at the beginning, something like, she's a dictator or like she decides everything. Right. Whatever she has. Because she's got a lot of rules
[00:19:06] Speaker B: we call executive leadership. But. Okay. Yes.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: Okay.
That's such. That's such a sort of sophisticated word for it. Much better. Nobody under 18 can be invited. Doesn't matter. Famous or not, whatever. Doesn't. I mean, I get it. Okay. Adults only.
No pictures. How do you like that? No pictures. None. Zilch. No selfies. No social media.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Exclusive, man.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: Yes. No posts at all.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Well, that's why Vogue gets so much money, because they get to cover the whole event. Exclusive.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I think she's kind of genius, the way she has put a, like, juggernaut around this whole thing and all of these things.
[00:19:41] Speaker B: And that started with Anna.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: All those new rules started with Anna. But there's not a lot of places in the world that you could go where celebrities don't believe that they're better than where they can do whatever. And somehow she has a stranglehold.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: She reined it in.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: Yes.
I give this woman a lot of credit. She's kind Of a badass.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: I'm assuming Anna gets paid for this.
[00:20:02] Speaker A: Anna doesn't get paid anything.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: She volunteers for it.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: What do you call that? Pro bono, baby.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Really?
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Three. Done and done. Right? I mean, Vogue we talked about makes a disgusting discuss.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Maybe it's in her salary.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: Right? I. She. I'm just telling you, not a penny from anything from this event goes to her. It is a absolute labor of love. I looked it up. She has raised. You want to guess how much money she's raised over the course of, like, her tenure and 30 years for the Costume Institute? Like, how much?
[00:20:33] Speaker B: I'm gonna go real high. I'm gonna go 900 million.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: No, not 900 million. 900 million is way too high.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Well, you said they needed 30 million a year, so.
[00:20:40] Speaker A: Yeah, but, like, that's like, 20, 26 money.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: So, like.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: But if you go back 30 years. What, 1995. How much do you think it was? It was probably 3 million. Wasn't 30 million. Okay, so, like, average $200 million.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: $200 million. And she does it for free. So, I mean, I know. I understand she gets a salary and everything, but she doesn't have to do this job. Nobody's telling her she has to do this job. She could outsource to anybody she wants to.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: That's crazy.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: And she doesn't.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: You know, it's crazier.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: What?
[00:21:02] Speaker B: It started with a $50 meal ticket,
[00:21:05] Speaker A: which was expensive for the time.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: Correct. But now it's 75,000.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: And they raised 30 million a night.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: They made. So let's say they had 30 million do for the Met Gala, 30 million for Vogue. Every year like clockwork. It's unbelievable. I don't care what your opinion is on Anna. I think just total powerhouse. We need more women Powerhouses Fair.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Is she the one who came up with the Is Fashion Art theme? I mean, obviously.
[00:21:26] Speaker A: Der. Right, let's go. I mean, I'm sure she has a group of people helping her, but. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.
[00:21:31] Speaker B: So how is the dinner themed to fashion? Is art okay?
[00:21:34] Speaker A: Yeah. So this guy, I guess the curator of the museum, Andrew Bolton, he's been at the Met forever. I guess he collaborated with Anna and all her folks, and basically he went through the entire Met collection of artwork of, like, art and sculptures, all that kind of 5,000 years worth of painting and art and all this stuff, and he took 200 of his favorites and he matched them side by side with the Costume Institute's best 200 outfits that would match the 200 sculptures or paintings that he fixed. So, like, a famous Greek statue next to, like, a long white nightgown or like, a Claude Monet painting, because you know how he does all that stuff next to, like, a flowery green dress, like water lilies. You're like. Something like that. Right, right. So. So, right. So they, like, everything goes together, which I thought was wild. That's probably one of the only ways I could possibly see fashion as art, because, like, I'm not into it. I get the historical context of the whole thing. I would love to go see, like, a Civil War outfit or an American Revolutionary outfit. Like, I get it, but, like, it's
[00:22:35] Speaker B: hard art to life, though, right? Like, you're taking art.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: I know.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: The costuming of that time period.
[00:22:42] Speaker A: I think you should go to the Metcalf. You are so into that. I think you should just go, like. I think this is it. Did you see any of the outfits this year? Did you? You didn't see any of this?
[00:22:48] Speaker B: I didn't watch it. I mean, I'm not a Met person.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Okay. But, like, you have to appreciate even the. Because they all dress up, right? So they wanted to match the theme. So it was absolutely incredible the way some people were wearing, like, the wearable sculpture dress. Have you. I mean, you see. Right, right.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: It's very, like, very designed.
[00:23:06] Speaker A: Yes. They're so creative. So I. Whatever. I mean, I'm not. I wasn't, like, super into it. Don't get me wrong. I did watch, but it just. It gave me a perspective I wouldn't otherwise have because I was always looking at it, thinking. Designers are always just trying to, like, you know, be what. What is the work? You know, so out there, like, so crazy, like, with their ideas, it's like, whatever. But when you recognize they're trying to theme it and, like, make it all make sense.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: Then I can appreciate it.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: And usually it just seems like it was kind of more of.
They use it for political statements or.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Right.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: For all the things. Like, it really made my valet kind of go down and, like, wanting to be a part.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: God, we did it. We're back.
We're back, baby.
[00:23:45] Speaker B: To watch or be a part of, like, this social experiment called Met. Right. Because it's like. Oh, it's exhausting.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Can you imagine, like, even just the dinner. Sorry to interrupt you, but, like, I just. Since we're on the flow with the words of the week, just the dinner itself. Like, I imagine the plate that we have for dinner, but then, like, all the accoutrements that would be a route can you imagine? Like, that would be so good. I think we did it. We just fixed everything. Okay, great. What were you saying?
[00:24:06] Speaker B: No, I just. I think it's when you add in the different layers on what they are trying to accomplish.
[00:24:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: With the theming, with all the attention to detail, you know, it's a deeper layer than just, oh, it's a show for celebrity.
[00:24:19] Speaker A: So it's. Yeah.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: Feed.
[00:24:21] Speaker A: I'm with you completely. Because it's one of those moments, Amanda, where I did the thing again where it was like, I don't really want to learn about this. And then once I started learning about it, I'm like, okay, this is actually cooler than I thought. So it was. I've had one of my moments again of sort of sophisticated. Don't be a douche.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: I'd be interested in something else outside of.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Outside of my wheelhouse. Right. Do you know who was in charge of it all? Who was co chairing?
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't know there was a co chair.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: Oh, dude, they have a whole committee.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, that makes sense that they have a committee. Someone famous.
[00:24:48] Speaker A: Someone totally famous. Beyonce.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Let's go. Yeah. She hadn't been there in like 10 years. Oh, yeah. So like last time she was there, like 2016, 2026. She came back.
Yes. So Anna decide a Beyonce gets to come. And not that, I mean, Beyonce wasn't banned or anything, but like, Anna picks the co chairs. So she picked Beyonce this year. It's kind of like a big deal, right? It's like when they do the hosting of the Oscars, Right. Whenever they deal, does she stand there
[00:25:16] Speaker B: at the, like, base of the floor and say hi to everybody and make
[00:25:20] Speaker A: sure she has the best designer? She greets everybody. She's right. Rubber. Right. Her co chairs this year were Nicole Kidman, who is like a staple there, and Venus Williams. I didn't know. Oh, interesting. Yes. Right, right. So Nicole Kidman, I guess, has gone forever super famous there. And Venus Williams has gone quite a bit. Like when I was looking up, like, why they picked these people and everything, I think Anna trusts them because they've. They've been there so frequently. And then they have this whole separate thing called a host committee that helps the co chairs. So that's a bigger group of people. And they're like, they're like rookies for Anna. So she already has like her top tier celebs that she wants to do it and she's like bringing in new, new celebs to see if they can manage this. So she has always a funnel to work with. So this year it was Sabrina Carpenter, super famous now Zoe Kravitz, Doja Cat. Like a bunch of other more newer celebrities that if they sort of make the cut, they'll keep coming back and keep helping her sort of build on this thing. That makes sense.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, well, like, I guess as you're talking about, I totally got the thought of. Well, no, duh. She would, like, have Nicole Kidman and Venus Will, because Venus can call all of the sports people, and then Nicole would be, like, picking up the phone and calling Jennifer Gardner or something.
Aren't you gonna go? Aren't you gonna go?
[00:26:30] Speaker A: She still gets to decide. Yeah, but I feel like, yes, you're using networking.
[00:26:35] Speaker B: It's the person who calls, and you can't say no to Nicole Kidman.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: I understand.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: I might say no to Anna.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Whoa. I would never say no to Anna.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: Well, sure.
[00:26:44] Speaker A: I love Anna. Okay, so going back to this whole, like, fashion is art, and how I said they decided. I mean, if I didn't already explain it enough, they went hard at basically demanding that fashion is considered art.
So much so that. Remember when I said it went from outside the Met to inside the basement to up in a wing? For the first time ever, they finally opened this year. A permanent gallery right off the Great Hall. Like, when you walk into the Met, it's not just a wing anymore. Now it is a. It's right there in the front, right off the Great Hall. Costume Institute, permanent space, front and center. They won. Debate over.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Fashion is officially considered art. The Met said so.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: Love it. I mean, I agree. So here we are.
[00:27:27] Speaker A: I learned a bunch of. About this. I never knew. I never thought I would want to know, but here we are. And now I'm a fan of all these awesome women.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: Well, from all of the learning that you did, give me some fun facts.
[00:27:37] Speaker A: Oh, I got fun facts. I got fun facts.
Fun facts galore on the Met.
I don't even. Like, I'm gonna have to trim this list down because I got too many of these. I don't want to go. Yeah, I don't want to.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: I don't want you to trim it.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: I gotta trim it because I have, like, 15. I'm gonna. I'll do five. I'll pick the top five. Okay, here we go. Fun facts. So number one, we said, like, in 1948, a ticket was $50, which then, adjusted for inflation, is, like 680 in today's dollars, which we thought was a lot of money.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: Right, Right.
[00:28:00] Speaker A: So Then what the hell are they doing? They're charging $75,000 a ticket, which means they're charging 110 times more than inflation would like, even justify. So, like, good on them for figuring all this shit out. And like I said, making it free for all these people. But, like, holy shit, can you imagine if they did that to other people at other places? We'd be dead. Couldn't keep up.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: They want a certain clientele, man.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: I only want to get charged $600. Okay, number two, want to guess the most visited or viewed exposition ever through the Costume Institute. Not like, at the Mat, like, through the. Like, which themed event was the most visited?
[00:28:34] Speaker B: Oh, I don't know.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: It wasn't the Russian.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: Do they. Question. Do they keep all of the themed outfits that they pull for the event out for the whole year?
[00:28:43] Speaker A: That is a good question. I do not know that.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: No, no, no. And also, I was thinking while I was doing my research, I'm sure they borrow outfits too, and then, like, they get them on loan like other museums do, and they'd have to give them back. Right. So, for instance. Okay. And in this case, spoiler. Here we are. It was something called Heavenly Bodies. Oh, I remember the most viewed fashion of the Catholic Church. It premiered in 2018. 1.6 million million people visited. More than any exhibition ever in the history of the Costume Institute by far.
[00:29:12] Speaker B: This was so controversial.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: I feel like the reason I remember is because Rihanna dressed up as the Pope. I totally remember. Like, what the hell is she doing? I didn't understand what the Mecca was or anything. That was like, whatever, you know, eight years.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Everyone was very much ruffled. Brothers.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Yes. Very confused by. But anyway, to my point of. They probably borrowed a lot of that stuff because that's belongs to the Vatican. Right. So I'm not quite sure how it stays on display or I'm assuming just like any other museum stuff is circulated, it would have to be. Okay, number three, remember how I said they did the exhibition on Russia?
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Okay. I guess when they did it in 1976, Diana Vreeland, back at the time, wanted to use the old Russian czars actual clothes, like the real Russian czar's clothes. But of course, the Russian government at the time said, you know, pound sand, because Cold War. Right. So she calls Jackie Onassis. Yeah, Like Jackie Kennedy. Yeah, Like, Right. Cause she's super famous for. I mean, JFK had already died, but she was super, super still in that circle.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: She was a fashion icon.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. So they fly over there together. Meet the Soviet Ministry of Culture. I didn't even know that was a thing. And somehow Jackie Onassis convinced everyone to give them what they wanted. And Diana pumped the amber and vanilla smells in the whole thing, and the place smelled like a czar's castle. And they won.
Jackie Onassis. Who would have.
[00:30:24] Speaker B: That's impressive.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: It's crazy. Okay, number four. Because so many of the Met Gala dresses are so big and so weird. Trains, like 50ft long, costumes made out of meat. Oh, my God. Do you remember? Okay. Apparently, going to the bathroom. You know my fascination with going to the bathroom. Going to the bathroom is a impossible task.
So I looked it up, because that's what you pay me for people to look up all these cool facts. Apparently, there are teams of bathroom attendants specifically stationed to help the ladies manage their dresses for them. When they go potty so their dresses don't get ruined, they physically remove the parts of the dress that they need to so they can sit down and then put it back on them. And then the designers, of course, have to manufacture the dress in a certain way so they can think about this.
I think that is the most wild thing ever. I love. Why am I so fascinated with that?
[00:31:17] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: I don't know. I think it's cool.
[00:31:18] Speaker B: To me, it just seems like a necessity. But. Okay.
[00:31:20] Speaker A: I don't know. But I think it's wild that they have.
[00:31:21] Speaker B: Because you pee standing up, you have
[00:31:22] Speaker A: to think about all that stuff.
And finally, apparently, there is an unwritten rule at Vogue that you're not allowed to get on an elevator with Anna Wintour.
Not happening. So, like, if you're waiting for an elevator and the door's open and she's in there, you have to wait for the next one. So I guess a famous designer named Rebecca Minkoff. I'm sure everybody knows her. I don't know her. Right. Accidentally got on one with her and didn't know about the rule. And she thinks that's the reason why she's never, ever been invited to a Met Gala before, like everyone else has. Go figure.
[00:31:50] Speaker B: Why can't you get on an elephant? She just made this rule.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: Speculate. This is all speculations.
[00:31:55] Speaker B: I have so many questions.
[00:31:56] Speaker A: You would think that she would be a designer that would be allowed to go. So I don't know. There you go. Fun facts out. That's all I got. Yeah.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: Well, you did a fabulous job.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Well, thank you very much.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: I don't even know if I have any more questions from when we started the episode till now, because I think you answered them all. But if people want to go deeper, what should they do?
[00:32:10] Speaker A: Well, if they want to go deeper, first they just have to DM us on Instagram if they want the fun facts. Or. Or the show summary, we will deliver to your inbox. Thank you so much for supporting the show. Okay, so here's what you gotta do if you wanna go deeper. First, watch the documentary called Diana Vreeland, the eye has to travel. It's on Netflix. I totally watched this. Made by her granddaughter in law, of all people. So, like, this is inside scoop shit. Personal story.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: This is whole life of Diana Vreeland, not just fashion. Amazing lady. Totally worth it. Watch it. It was one of those ones where I was like, I can't believe I'm going to sit down and do this in the name of research. And I did it, and I'm a better person for it. So that's number one to another documentary the first Monday in May. Right?
Right. This one's about Anna Wintour and the whole putting together of the exhibition for China in 2016 when they. That was the theme in 2016. It's literally like watching somebody do a Broadway production. Like, that's how much work goes into getting this thing.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: I believe it.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it's incredible. It's on YouTube somewhere. Please watch it. Totally worth it if you want to learn more. And then finally, if you're up for do what Amanda did, Go to the Met. But instead of taking a picture outside, go inside and check out the Costume Institute. 33,000 garments going all the way back to Amanda. Do you know the 1400s?
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Crazy.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: The 1400s. We're talking 600 years now. For free.
For free. You could get it. Well, 30 bucks, right? You can get it. Like, holy. I'm. I'm going. I'm flying New York. I'm going. Taking Ruth. Let's go, Ruth. Okay, if you don't want to do any of that, then just remember these details to seem so sophisticated. Here we go. The Met Gala started with a theater lady named Irene Lewison, who ran a community playhouse for immigrant kids on the Lower east side, started collecting costumes for productions, and one day decided fashion deserved its own museum. She opened the Museum of costume art in 1937. She died in 1944 and never saw what it became.
I think just. I gotta stop for a second. Like, how cool is that? That this woman has no idea that one idea she had turned into this? It goes to show you, like, how powerful we could be.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: We don't even know, well, maybe it's like inspirational for people just to try. I know. If you're passionate about something, start.
[00:34:11] Speaker A: I love it. Number two. Three women then built out the Met Gala into what it is today. First, Eleanor Lambert, a nobody from Indiana who invented American fashion PR, started the whole thing as a fundraising dinner in 1948 at 50 a ticket. Second, Diana Vreeland transformed it in the 70s, moved it into the museum, matched the party to the exhibition, and started inviting all the A list celebrity guests, not just rich fashion people. And last, of course, Anna Winter took over in 1995 and turned it into a $30 million a night gala that generates more media attention than the Super Bowl. And she runs it completely for free, makes no money.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: I mean, asterisks for free, whatever, fine.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Number three. The 2026 theme was Fashion is art. It's the conclusion of an 80 year institutional argument. The exhibition put 200 garments side by side with 200 works of art spanning 5,000 years and said, look, people, it is the same damn thing. Stop arguing. And for the first time in history, the Met opened a permanent dedicated gallery for the Costume Institute right off the Great Hall. And finally, the most visited Costume Institute exhibition in history was not about a famous designer. It was fashion and the Catholic Church. In 2018, 1.6 million people. Rihanna dressed as a pope proves the Catholic Church may be the most forward thinking fashionistas on the planet. Who knew? Dun dun, dun.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: Well, there you have it, dear listeners. We started today with a woman running a community theater group for immigrant kids on the Lower east side and somehow ended up at Beyonce and a bathroom attendant holding a 50 foot long dress train so somebody can go pee. So if we did our job today, you're walking away a little more sophisticated and maybe a little more curious the next time you see someone show up somewhere in something completely insane and then they call it fashion because now you know they're not just wearing a dress. They're part of an 80 year argument that started in a basement and finally got a room at the front door of the greatest museum in America.
So, as always, if you like this episode hit, subscribe, leave us a review and share it with that one friend who watches the Met Gala red carpet every year but has no idea why any of it actually matters. Because now, finally, they can have some context. So until next time, stay curious, stay a little sophisticated, and remember, every party in history started with someone who just refused to accept that the thing they love didn't belong at the table.
