The sea of Givenchy dresses aside, last night’s Met gala was as much about beauty as it was about fashion—which shouldn’t be that much of a surprise; after all, punk’s lasting legacy has done just as much for the advancement of black eyeliner and hair color as it has for studs and safety pins. Miley’s spikes, Madonna’s black bob, and Diane von Furstenberg’s epic curls come to mind as some of the evening’s biggest beauty moments, although there was plenty more to talk about—or text about, as it were; we were engaged in a steady stream of phone commentary with no less than three style-savvy friends at once as the chaos and couture unfolded on the red carpet. Below, we’ve listed a few of our favorite punk trends, reimagined for the red carpet—and in face-off form—because while the Met isn’t an awards show, per se, there’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.
The Look: Peroxide Goes Platinum
The Contenders: Anne Hathaway vs. Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie and her hairstylist, Luke Chamberlain, set out to make a color statement on the red carpet via Chamberlain’s silver-white, spray-in streaks, but the night’s mane event belonged to Anne Hathaway, who showed up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with a brand-new, bright blonde dye job. “I decided to go for a look that [was] glam, edgy, and yet very youthful and fun,” celebrity hairstylist Sascha Breuer explained of the slicked up style she gave Hathaway’s crop, which was freshly bleached courtesy of Marie Robinson.
The Look: Side-Swept Strands for Single Statement Earrings
The Contenders: Emilia Clarke vs. Mary-Kate Olsen
Ear cuffs, one of Fall’s biggest runway trends, figured fairly large last night, which meant hair was pulled up or combed over to adequately showcase a series of bejeweled ears. But while Jessica Alba, Brooklyn Decker, Cara Delevingne, and many, many others opted for cartilage-hugging accoutrements, Mary-Kate Olsen and Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke chose long, wavy locks accessorized with a single, drop earring—an asymmetrical punk homage that Clarke did best, letting a lone bedazzled cross dangle from her left lobe.
The Look: Studded Baubles
The Contenders: Jaime King vs. Sienna Miller
Studs—on jackets, dresses, belts, and shoes—littered the red carpet, but they were perhaps most unexpected in headband form, as worn by both Jaime King and Sienna Miller. While King’s spiked coronet looked gorgeous against her super-smooth blond locks, Miller’s Eddie Borgo band had an understated quality that worked, despite an embellishment-heavy Burberry ensemble that included a studded leather jacket and a myriad earring.
The Look: Winning Streaks
The Contenders: Joan Smalls vs. Chanel Iman
That Debbie Harry’s dip-dyed, skunk-striped tips would get some inspired play was something of a no-brainer, but that two supermodels would have a go at them was less predictable. While we liked Chanel Iman’s raspberry color-blocking effort, Joan Smalls’ bleached-out bottoms were hard to ignore.
The Look: Liner Love
The Contenders: Ginnifer Goodwin vs. January Jones
Equally unsurprising was the number of kohl-rimmed lids, a punk mainstay if ever there was one, that hit the Met’s famous stairs. But while smoky eyes abounded, a few attendees, January Jones and Ginnifer Goodwin among them, went the extra mile, taking their black-pencil traces to Siouxsie Sioux proportions—Goodwin most notably. It’s a lot; that’s for sure. But her blacked-out arches and diffused shadow were on point with the evening’s theme, and looked especially good with her messy, moussed-up pixie cut.
