When it comes to the Met Gala, most men opt for the classic suit. It may not be the most exciting option (though some have certainly found ways to liven it up), but as is the case with most classics, it’s hard to do wrong. But Lil Nas X isn’t just any man. He’s Lil Nas X: a risk-taker, a conversation-starter, a pot-stirrer, and a fashion savant. Naturally, a regular-degular suit simply would not do. And that’s why, at this year’s Met Gala, he opted for a birthday suit.
Now, he’s still in public, so walking around completely nude would not fly. Rather than a full display of skin, the two-time Grammy winner donned little more than a skimpy pair of underwear (that thankfully kept his backside on full-view), which he accessorized with some serious jewelry (pearls and crystals) that covered almost the entirety of his neck and face. The pièce de résistance, though, had to be the body paint — to offset the sight of his, well, otherwise bare flesh, the rapper was painted head-to-toe in silver. On top of the paint, he was covered in jewels that had been applied directly to his skin a la RuPaul’s Drag Race’s season two winner Tyra Sanchez. He looked like the Creature of the Black Lagoon…if the Creature of the Black Lagoon somehow got caught in an oil spill and then washed off in a bath full of Swarovski crystals.
Leave it up to Lil Nas X to whip up a look that works for this year’s theme — Karl Lagerfeld was a noted super-fan of pearls of all kinds, after all — but wouldn’t feel out of place at the 2019 “Notes on Camp” edition of the event, either. (We love a multi-tasking outfit.)
Of course, such a daring display would never work if the wearer wasn’t ready to turn it out, to really give it the necessary sass, the needed pomp and circumstance to pull it off. And Lil Nas X, ever the consummate showman, delivered on all fronts. As he sauntered across the cream-colored carpet, the musician had tons of fun hamming it up for the cameras, whether he was posing like a modern Greek adonis (which he certainly looked like) or using his fiercely manicured fingers (with more pearls, yes) to suggestively touch all over himself. When he placed his hands over his chest, as if to coyly cover up breasts that weren’t there? Perfection.
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