By: Hermekay Dehaney

The Met Gala, also known as the Costume Institute Gala, is an annual fundraising event hosted on May 1st at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in New York. The gala revolves around a specific theme, which is often tied to the Museum exhibitions. Celebrities in fashion, film, music, and the arts showcase their outfits based on that theme. This year, the inspiration was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and the official dress code was “The Garden of Time.”

I’ll be highlighting the looks that stood out to me the most, and that truly captured the theme.

10. Phoebe Dynevor wearing a Victoria Beckham Gown

Link to the photo: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/phoebe-dynevor-met-gala-victoria-beckham

Phoebe Dynevor, most famous for her role in ‘Bridgerton’ became the first person to attend the Met Gala wearing a gown by Victoria Beckham.

What makes this one of my top 10 favorites is how entirely sheer and pink it is, with some flowers surrounding the dress. Simple, yet beautiful.  

9. Karlie Kloss wearing Swarovski

Link to photo: https://www.vogue.com/article/karlie-kloss-2024-met-gala

Karlie Kloss, who is a model, wore a bejeweled custom Swarovski gown covered in 240,500 crystals. Her dress was stunning, especially with the flowers covering the top of the dress.

She fits the theme, and that’s why she takes the 9th place.

She was not the only one wearing Swarovski, she and 3 other models that were accompanied by the Swarovski creative director Giovanna Engelbert all matched representing the four seasons. Anok Yai wore a blue bodysuit covered in 98,000 gems. Irina Shayk wore an old Hollywood-inspired silver gown,  covered in 84,000 crystals. Imaan Hammam, wore a two-piece yellow skirt made of 133,000 crystals.

8. Taylor Russel wearing Loewe

Link to photo: https://www.vogue.com/article/taylor-russell-2024-met-gala

As the global ambassador of Loewe, it was no surprise that she was wearing a custom-made Loewe gown.

Her gown is a high-neck corset designed to resemble a wood marquetry pattern paired with a silk white skirt.

Her very earthy look fits the theme of the Met Gala, and that’s why I put her in 8th place.

7. Lana del Rey wearing Alexander McQueen

Link to photo: https://www.vogue.com/article/lana-del-reys-2024-met-gala-look-references-an-iconic-alexander-mcqueen-collection?scrlybrkr=10982ec1

Lana del Rey wore an archival Alexander McQueen gown from the 2006 fall collection. Her dress was covered in bronze-bullion hawthorn branches paired with a silk tulle headpiece.

Her dress was perfect for the nature theme.

6. Nicki Minaj wearing Marni

Link to photo: https://www.vogue.com/article/nicki-minaj-transformed-into-a-floral-sculpture-at-the-2024-met-gala

Nicki Minaj was wearing a custom-made short yellow Marni dress paired with a yellow Trunkaroo purse. Her look was made by the Marni creative director, Francesco Risso.

Nicki Minaj’s look seems to have been inspired by her old style from the early 2010s with the different multi-colors. The artwork of the dress truly fits the nature theme with the 3D flowers. She finished the look with a purse.

5. Eliza Gonzalez wearing Del Core

Link to photo: https://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2024/05/07/eiza-gonzalez-wore-del-core-to-the-2024-met-gala/

The actress wore a custom pink Del Core gown made from organza-shaped petals inspired by a flower that grows in her home country of Mexico.

Elizabeth Saltzman the creator of the dress said “It is a peeling orchid dress, covered with layers of silk organza, shaded in pink, ivory and cream,” The dress looks like a dress out of a fairytale which is why I put it in 5th place.

4. Zendaya wearing Margiela

Link to both photos: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/ latest/a60662466/zendaya-red-carpet-photos-met-gala-2024/

Zendaya was styled by her long-time stylist, Law Roach, who dressed her in not one but two gowns custom made by Maison Margiela by John Galliano. Her deep blue and green dress represents a peacock inspired look with birds, berries, and vines design, topped off with a feather headpiece.

Her next dress was a black gown with a bouquet design headpiece with different colors of roses. Her dress definitely fits the theme.

3. Mona Patel wearing Iris van Herpen

Link to dress: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mona-patel-met-gala-dress-b2543423.html

In my top 3, we have Mona Patel who wore a custom couture Iris van Herpen gown. Her dress featured Indian embroidery, honoring her Indian heritage. The dress also included a butterfly design on the corset part of her dress, and an animated butterfly design going down her arm designed by Casey Curran.

Mona Patel said “I wanted my debut look to be something that celebrates my heritage and also combines my love of couture, and when I heard of the theme, Iris van Herpen seemed like the obvious choice,” and I think she did that perfectly.

2. Alia Bhatt wearing Sabyasachi

Link to see dress: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a60718865/alia-bhatts-2024-met-gala-saree/

Coming in 2nd place is Alia Bhatt honoring her culture by wearing a custom sari, featuring a 23 foot long train. The mint green gown is covered with flowers which are covered in crystals. The dress took over 163 people around 1965 hours to create.

The dress is partly inspired by the 1920s fringe style, with earthy colors to honor nature’s beauty.

1. Harris Reed wearing his own design

Link to dress: https://wwd.com/pop-culture/celebrity-news/harris-reed-outfit-met-gala-1236357587/

The final outfit absolutely suited the theme “Garden of Time.” Coming in 1st place we have Harris Reed who wore his own custom made design. The designer first debuted his design at his 2024 collection “Shadow Dance.” The pantsuit was made with silk material and features 3D thorns along with a halo headpiece with arrows coming out of it.

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By: Oak Berg

Crocs are so iconic and have become super popular for their really weird design, comfort and all of the vibrant colors. Making them is a short fast process because they have machines do it.

The main material Crocs are made of is a foam that’s call Croslite. It’s not regular foam, it’s a closed cell resin type of foam. It’s super light, it can actually float, but there is also lots of cushion. Those are reasons why Crocs can be super comfy.

The whole process of making a Croc starts with molding the foam into a mold that is the shape and design of the shoe. These molds are carefully crafted to have the parts of a Croc like the holes and heel strap.

After shaping the foam the shoes go into a heating machine to make the Croc more firm . The heat helps with durability and appearance and making sure that Crocs can withstand being worn daily.

Crocs are designed with strange things like placed holes. These holes give them their look and make them lighter, giving your feet airflow which makes them suitable for various activities like walks or water based adventures.

During the making of a Croc other parts like heel straps are attached in models. The end result is a pair of Crocs that has both looks and a comfortable shoe.

For more information, please visit:

• https://www.opengrowth.com/resources/crocs-to-introduce-bio-based-material-croslite-footwear

By: Oak Berg

The Air Jordan 4, sometimes known as the AJ4, or just the Jordan 4, is highly looked over and it is a legendary sneaker in the section of footwear. Crafted by the renowned Nike shoe director Tinker Hatfield, the Jordan 4 was dropped in 1989 and swiftly attained the status of one of the most popular and coolest sneakers of all time.

The Jordan 4 was the fourth version of Michael Jordan’s Jordan shoe line with Nike. It arrived during a very good phase in Jordan’s career, as he was showing himself off as one of the country’s best basketball players in history.

Tinker Hatfield had gotten a lot of news about Jordan’s affection for automobiles and collaborated to make the Jordan 4 have a thin side and comfy shoe with a beautiful appearance. The shoe has many many cool types of options like leather and mesh on the upper shoe/tongue, along with plastic wing-like supports on the sides, and the square sticking for a nice stability and style. It also had one of the the iconic “Flight” logos on the tongue and heel, along with the very comfy Air cushioning piece in the heel for higher comfort and better game play.

The Jordan 4 made its very first shoutout, or appearance, in the 1989 NBA playoff games, in which Jordan created the very famous shot “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo, causing everyone to start supporting the Chicago Bulls against the Cleveland Cavaliers. This very moment solidified the Jordan 4’s place in basketball history, and continued to skyrocket its popularity.

In the few years after The Jordan 4s very first release, the Jordan 4 continued to keep the fame and popularity in the sneaker market. It experienced lots and lots of fame and popularity that is still ongoing.

By: Oak Berg

The Nike SB Dunk Low Strangelove is a highly liked shoe that was released in February 2020 as a collab with Nike and the skateboarding brand Strangelove. This unique sneaker was created with insane attention to detail showing lots of designs and inspirations to capture the essence of the Strangelove brand and its founder, Sean Cliver.

The main reason behind the Nike Strangelove Dunk is from the crazy art and skateboarding culture in 1960-70. The shoe has a vibrant pink and red color combo that looks amazing with crazy aesthetics, creating a visually appealing/striking and nostalgic shoe. The heart shaped branding on the tongue and back, and the velvet material used on the toe box and sides and back, give the shoe a beautiful and comfortable touch.

The Nike Strangelove Dunk was made with skateboarding in mind, as it is part of Nike’s SB (Skateboarding) shoes. The shoe’s design has key features that help with its performance and durability on the skateboard. The low-top dunk provides freedom of movement, while the thick padding on the lip and tongue offers comfort and protection while skating. The Zoom Air part in the heel provides responsive cushioning, making it suitable for impact landings and really cool tricks.

The reasoning behind the creation of the Nike Strangelove Dunk lies in the team up between Nike and Strangelove. The collab was to celebrate the special vision and fancyness of Sean Cliver, who is known for his influential contributions to skateboard designs and artwork. By combining Nike’s sneaker design and Strangelove’s distinct style, the collab resulted in a shoe that mixes the skateboarding culture with art creativity.

Also, the Strangelove Dunk was created with the intention of attracting sneaker enthusiasts and collectors. The limited edition shoe, with its unique design and huge backstory, generated insane hype and demand in the sneaker community, with resell prices often exceeding its original retail value (resell around $2,400 depending on size).

For more information, please visit:

• https://strangeloveskateboards.com/blogs/strangelove/we-make-a-fine-pair
• https://hypebeast.com/2020/2/strangelove-skateboards-nike-sb-dunk-low-official-look-ct2552-800

By: Beverly Stinson

If you’re someone who likes to wear fashionable clothing, fall and winter might be challenging for you. Due to the cold weather and snow you might have to put away the clothes you prefer to wear and stick to sweats for 7 to 8 months (in Minnesota), and that’s really sad.

So I want to give tips on how to keep your style while in low temperatures. Of course this article isn’t going to be for everyone but I have tried to add diversity to the outfit inspos I have made.

Now, I personally like to wear more outgoing clothing, such as crop tops, and skirts, two items that are not fit for the cold. But even though they aren’t meant for cold weather it’s easy to rock them by adding warm accessories.

Things like:

• Tights or leggings
• Gloves (the longer the better)
• Jackets
• Cardigans
• Hats

These things will help keep you warm while also not ruining your outfit. But of course there are other things you could wear like coats and scarfs but if you’re like me, those aren’t options, since a lot of the time they ruin outfits.

Something that can also help is outfit boards; instead of just choosing random outfits and hoping for the best you can create boards and plan your outfits ahead. If making your own boards isn’t your thing then a good place to find some already made ones is on the app Pinterest.

I have made some boards to give inspiration:

These are just a handful of styles you can take inspiration from. All of them have warm aspects in them, but of course if your style isn’t included you can find good ones on Pinterest.

Some of these include coat-like clothing but of course they are fashionable and not one of those horrendous puffy plastic coats.

Now a lot of people can’t really afford to dress “fashionably” but you can find so many good things at cheap stores and websites.

There are of course REALLY cheap websites that you could shop from but shops like those tend to be very bad for the environment and very inhumane.

You can find good clothes like this from thrift stores (not the Salvation Army), Depop (things can get pretty expensive though), Japanese mercari, OR you can learn how to sew and crochet, which while it may take a bit, once you get the hang of it you can be making a shirt or a pair of pants + more, every week.

Even though there are these good options for shopping, I’d like to ask that you support small shops and businesses by buying their clothing and jewelry. Shops like these are on Etsy, Depop, Poshmark, and you can find some people’s websites from their social media accounts.

This is all I have for inspiration and tips. I hope this article helps you stay fashionable during this year’s fall and incoming nightmare of a Minnesota winter.

Stay cool!

xoxo,beverly