Slight caveat: Solange didn’t follow Twitter’s advice, but she DID post four images in advance of the Met Gala and solicit opinions on which she should wear, which is a very fun way of cracking open the door and letting us peek at the thought that goes into it. The theme for this year’s gala was Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, and in the end, Twitter seemed in favor of No. 2, but Solange correctly combined #1 and #4 and then added… pleather thigh-high socks?… under the shoes:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination, Arrivals, New York, USA - 07 May 2018

I still really love #2, but she was right that this is cooler. She combined the halo (which reportedly had been edited out of an magazine shoot she’d once done) with the durag (which at one point had a piece on it that said, “My God wears a durag,” the link to which has since expired) and paired both with an Iris van Herpen dress. The effect is clearly still on-theme but less overtly angelic the white would have been — and I think people would have looked at that and thought, “Oh, okay, it’s about angels,” and missed what Solange said was her larger message: that the whole outfit was a statement on how black bodies are often erased from religious fixtures, so she was seeking to celebrate afrocentrism in faith.  Other than wishing the top fit as well here as it seems to have in the earlier photos, I think it’s smashing, and makes me miss her, as she evolved into one of the most consistently interesting red-carpet presences. I’m hoping she’ll be on the one at the Met in September.

[Photos: Getty, Twitter]
Tags: Solange
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