Between the Met Gala red carpet and the after-parties, one thing has to happen: the guests have to change…somewhere.
That's why, while other journalists were trying to chase Mercedes sprint vans to see some actor or singer, on May 6 I was watched at the Mark Hotel. The Mark serves as a base where many out-of-towners and locals end up getting a room, either to spend the night or to use as a small celebration area before the big show. (You can't exactly fit your outfit into an Uber when it's the size of a merry-go-round.)
Just after 9pm, I walked past the security barricades with a small white card with the hotel's logo on it and picked a spot near the gate to watch people return in fancy dresses and suits, many of which were now being guessed at. elaborate dresses as they stepped back into the hotel lobby. Here's what happened.
9 p.m
I approach the barricades at the corner of 77th and Madison, and I'm told to call the publicist to get a little card to drive through. There is no check-in desk.
9:07 p.m
After texting the hotel rep, they give me a card and wait outside the front of the hotel where there is a “red carpet” for returns. There's a photographer next to me clearly waiting for celebrity shots. I ask him what outlet he works for. “I'm here for everyone,” he tells me. “Everybody wants that stuff.”
9:38 p.m
I'm taken inside the lobby, where a Jean-Georges Vongerichten cart is handing out hot dogs and fries to anyone who wants them.
9:42 p.m
Not many people in the lobby. It's mostly me, publicists, hotel staff, security guards, and what appears to be a group of two moms and three pre-teen girls who have abandoned their dinner reservation to monitor the scene.
10:03 p.m
A couple walks by in a beautiful dress and gown, but not a Met Gala attendee-level dress and gown. They certainly weren't at The Big Event. However, they stop and pose for the photographers outside.
10:10 p.m
Alexandra Daddario enters the lobby as the first back (by my watch). The lace Dior dress is still intact and she still wears the snake headdress.
10:21 p.m
I'm starting to wonder what it's like to be the first celebrity to pull the trigger to go. If you leave a party like the Met Gala first, how long do you stay in reality boring stuff like a nephew's christening or something?
10:32 p.m
Erykah Badu makes her re-entry, entering with a team of people helping her navigate the lobby in a gorgeous (but cumbersome) Commes des Garçons dress. Go past everyone and get into an elevator.
10:41 p.m
Are there celebrity kangaroos all over town right now waiting for these people to come back in huge ornate outfits and give them like $80?
10:47 p.m
The next man walking through the grand lobby entrance is dressed in a suit holding a stack of four pizzas. It's clearly a celebrity's staff. Whatever was on the menu inside tonight's gala, someone was still feeling a little peckish.
10:51 p.m
Ivy Getty returns to the lobby in a Connor Ives dress.
10:53 p.m
The shutters of the cameras start to turn, the flashes go off and from the street, I can hear the screams of ordinary people who cannot contain themselves at what they have seen.
10:54 p.m
Kylie Jenner and Rosalía walk past the crowd holding hands and make way for the elevators.
10:58 p.m
Lily Gladsone enters with a driver helping her with the long black train of her Gabriela Hearst dress.
11:04 p.m
I wonder what it means to leave a party like this. Maybe it's like every other party, where you say you're leaving at 10pm, but inevitably you have to go with everyone and tell them you're leaving, which then turns into a whole new mini-conversation. And before you know it, another hour has passed.
11:05 p.m
Cardi B enters to a chorus of cheers from fans calling her name outside.
11:07 p.m
Tyla is back. No hourglass points are visible. Instead, she's using her hands to hold up her dress as she walks through the lobby in a security suit.
11:08 p.m
Wisdom Kaye enters, no no similar to Carmen Sandiego.
11:09 p.m
Colman Domingo arrives in a perfect post-gala look: open jacket, with a bouquet of flowers, feeling good for the after parties.
11:12 p.m
I make awkward eye contact with Rachel Sennott, who I went to college with a long time ago. It's not clear if he recognizes me, but for a moment I regret not pursuing stand-up more after college.
11:22 p.m
Gayle King starts to enter, but pulls to the side of the entrance to remove part of her dress. I'm honestly surprised this is the first time this has happened to a celebrity tonight. Leave it to Gayle King for a human and relatable moment.
