Every year on the first Monday in May, the most famous and exclusive party in America takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year, because of Covid, the date changed and moved to Sept. 13, however, the theme, the people, and most importantly, the fashion, stayed controversial as always.

This year, the theme of the Met Gala was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” which translates to celebrating American fashion. Recent past themes of the Met have been “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” and “Camp: Notes on fashion,” which were favored a lot more than this year’s theme. “I think the majority of people fit the theme but not in the way I would’ve expected. I thought it was very broad and people took advantage but in the wrong ways,” junior Karen Potts said.

Several attendees were creative while still hitting on the theme with beautiful outfits like Lili Reinhart and her dress with the state flowers from all 50 states and Billie Eilish with her ode to Marilyn Monroe. “I loved Kendall Jenner’s outfit because it was simple yet elegant and it followed the theme because it was related to Audrey Hupburn,” junior Brooke Pitt said.

On the other hand, others completely missed the mark, like Channing Tatum with a plain black suit and Justin and Hailey Beiber, who played it safe with plain outfits from American Designers. “I didn’t like Kim Kardashian’s because I thought she looked like a dementor from Harry Potter. I also disliked Kim Petras’ horse girl outfit because she looked like a centaur and Whoopie Goldberg looked like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate factory when she inflated,” Potts said.

Another point of controversy was the fact that influencers were invited this year. This included Dixie D’amelio and Nikkie de Jager. “I think that influencers like Tik Tok stars like Addison Rae should not be included in the Met Gala even though she was but Emma Chamberlain was fine because she was reporting and she actually has made an influence and impact in the world,” junior Shelby Parsons said.

Politicians and political messages also made an appearance this year including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose dress said “Tax the Rich,” Cara Delevingne, who’s outfit said “Peg the Patriarchy,” and New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney whose dress said “Rights for Women.” “Politicians are better than influencers being invited but it makes it less of an entertainment and more of a statement event,” Parsons said.

Although this year’s Met Gala had countless famous attendees like Gigi Hadid, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Lil Nas X, Timothee Chalamet and Pete Davidson, past attendees like Blake Lively, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga were missed. “I wish Harry Styles and Zendaya would’ve attended again because they have really cool outfits and consistently capture the themes in their outfits,” Potts said.

In 2022, the Met Gala is going to be back on schedule on the first Monday in May with an extension of this year’s theme. “This theme was OK but I think that nature, futuristic, decades, or something like a Mardi Gras or masquerade theme would be really cool,” Pitt said.