Sarah Jessica Parker takes the theme of each Met Gala very seriously, and 2016 was no exception.
The star wore a custom look by Monse for the gala, whose theme was “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology.” The look consisted of cropped pants, a simple white tank, a 1700s military-inspired white jacket and a pair of customized shoes from her SJP Collection. While Parker often tops the best-dressed list of any red carpet she walks, some didn’t quite understand this outfit. After all, the year before she’d arrived in a Chinese-inspired silk dress with a dramatic headdress — an outfit that fit more clearly with the theme, “China: Through the Looking Glass.”
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When blogger Ivy Marshall condemned Parker to her worst-dressed list, Parker decided to chime in to help Marshall and others understand just how she landed on the outfit. And in a piece in T Magazine, Parker wrote: “What is technology? And what does it mean when applied to fashion? We didn’t want to simply apply lights and actual, physical technology on me. We didn’t want it to be about the electronic screen or something that could turn on and off. We wanted it to be about the technology of thought, of application, of fabrication. The technology of the hand and the machine.”
She also explained that she’d been inspired by the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” so for her footwear, she aimed to channel shoes from Alexander Hamilton’s time, by adding brooches from her own closet to blue pumps from her SJP Collection.
Parker pointed out in her piece that past themes had been a bit more straightforward: Chinese culture in fashion, the punk era in fashion or a tribute to designer Alexander McQueen. In those years, Parker went all the way with the themes, wearing said headdress, plaid thigh-high boots and more.
This year’s theme is “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: The Art of the In-Between,” celebrating designer Rei Kawakubo’s work. While Parker hasn’t given any hints as to what her outfit will entail this year, we know for certain that Parker has definitely been doing her research.
Click through the gallery to see Parker’s Met Gala looks through the years.
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