In an email released by Kerri Calder on Aug. 29, it was officially announced that the theme for the 2022 Briar Woods homecoming dance would be “Met Gala.” Known to be one of the biggest events in the celebrity world, students hope that the same extravagance and high fashion is showcased for all those attending homecoming this fall season.

In order for students to properly apply the Met Gala theme, they need to first understand what it is. As Maria Ward and Christian Allaire from Vogue like to put it, “the Met Gala is the Super Bowl of fashion.” 

Since its debut in 1946, celebrities have attended the gala wearing extravagant looks. Over the years, the trends have become more avant garde, establishing it as the standard for Met Gala attendees.

  The question now comes to Briar Woods: How do students interpret the Met Gala theme for homecoming this year? “It’s an interesting theme for the dance, but obviously not a lot of people can live up to it because of how crazy and different the Met Gala [outfits] were this year,” sophomore Mia Naimi said. When asked how many people in terms of percentage would likely stick to the Met Gala theme, Naimi’s words were “due to the extravagant, unique, and let’s be honest, expensive clothing that are shown at Met Galas, it makes me think that the percentage of people who would stick to this theme are going to be fairly low. A lot of preparation and money goes into each outfit and I don’t think many students would want to participate in the theme because of this. I would say maybe 40 percent will participate, as it is already a tradition to wear short dresses at homecoming.” 

On the other hand, some students have different opinions. “I feel the theme is a bit too broad. I [also] think most people are going to ignore the theme and dress like last year’s homecoming, at least that’s what I’ve heard.” said a sophomore who chose to stay anonymous. When asked how many people in terms of percentage would likely stick to the Met Gala theme, the sophomore answered by saying “I believe that roughly 30 percent will do something elaborate [or] go all out for this theme. The other 70 percent will probably wear something similar to last year.” 

Other responses were similar in the fact that they choose not to go by the theme. What makes their responses different though, is that they have different motives for ignoring the theme. “I have already been planning my dress before I heard of this theme. As fun as it could be [to follow the theme], it takes a lot of preparation to create an outfit like the celebrities at the Met Gala showcase. I love seeing all the outfits but I wouldn’t know how to start one on my own. Another reason would be that some Met Gala outfits aren’t very appropriate, due to the difference in age these models are compared to someone like me attempting to rock an outfit like that.” Naimi said. The anonymous sophomore’s reason to not follow the theme is “solely because it’s so vague. If it was a theme such as ‘greek mythology’ or ‘starry nights’, I think a vast majority would dress up for it because it’s easy to match and most people will have some knowledge on the topic [or] be interested in it.”

Where should inspiration be found? “Gigi Hadid’s peacock dress at the 2018 Met Gala was personally my idea of a perfect dress. She showcased elegance and beauty in this simple but shimmering dress. This was a jaw dropping piece of art that has my full inspiration,” Naimi said. Other students stated they take inspiration from no one in particular because they aren’t familiar with many celebrities, and most of them have questionable fashion choices.

The students behind the idea for the theme, the Briar Woods Student Council Association  (SCA), were inspired by the versatility of the gala. The senior class president, Ishaan Parikh, said that “[the council] thought it was unique how each grade has their own theme, but it’s all still universal. Additionally, we thought it was cool that each grade has flexibility with it because it’s based off of a past Met Gala theme. [Also] since it’s a big thing right now, we thought it would be [interesting] if we brought it to Briar Woods for homecoming.” 

In all, expectations aren’t too high among the students for the fashion that may be seen on homecoming night. Albeit, students can surely count on a few people to live up to the flamboyant and glamorous standards of the Met Gala. Who knows? Maybe someone does come along and stuns the crowd with a perfect, show-stopping outfit. It really is anyone’s guess.