{"id":940489,"date":"2026-05-06T01:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/940489\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T01:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T01:21:16","slug":"i-tried-to-go-to-every-single-2026-met-gala-after-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/940489\/","title":{"rendered":"I Tried to Go to Every Single 2026 Met Gala After-Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was biting into a flaky croissant when Chloe Malle called, asking if I wanted to spearhead this year\u2019s \u201cI Tried to Go to Every Met Gala Afterparty<\/a>\u201d story. I blurted out \u201cyes\u201d before she could finish her sentence. Covered in crumbs and looking more like a fledgling Andy Sachs in the first Devil Wears Prada than a future Met Gala attendee, I accepted the challenge. It felt less like work and more like a dare.<\/p>\n

I boarded a flight from LAX with a light pink Rimowa suitcase whose contents suggested I had grand plans. Packed inside was a 1980s Saint Laurent black tulle bubble-skirt dress and a pair of six-inch Brian Atwood patent pumps. Clothes meant to convince me I belonged in the rooms I\u2019d be reporting from, and heels that promised an elevated perspective.<\/p>\n

I was returning to the city where I\u2019d spent over a decade of my life, this time as a professional interloper. Two of my closest friends\u2014artist Anna Weyant, a member of this year\u2019s host committee, and actor Lily-Rose Depp\u2014would be inside the actual gala. I would be circling it, like a moth, attempting to hit every afterparty and see what happens after the world\u2019s most photographed dinner lets out.<\/p>\n

At 9:30 p.m., my Blacklane driver picks me up in a blacked-out Escalade from the Bowery Hotel, where I\u2019ve spent the last two hours watching YouTube tutorials on perfecting a smoky eye. The gala itself wraps around this time, and most attendees drift back to their hotels to change into something a bit more comfortable or daring, before heading to the after-parties.<\/p>\n

My original plan was to stop at The Mark Hotel, the unofficial Met Gala<\/a> headquarters a few blocks from the steps, where many guests and brands get ready for the night. But as I head uptown, I make a last-minute decision to skip The Mark and go straight to The Carlyle instead.<\/p>\n

Stop 1: The Carlyle<\/p>\n

I arrive at the Carlyle at 10 p.m. sharp. The entire block is barricaded, so I\u2019m forced to do a humiliating, highly public lap in six-inch heels, wobbling like a newborn deer. At one point, I consider scaling the barricade and becoming a headline.<\/p>\n

When I finally make it inside, flushed, the party is\u2026 empty. The Met Gala<\/a> hasn\u2019t even ended yet, no one\u2019s changed, and no one\u2019s arrived. It\u2019s just me, alone, among an army of well-dressed PR girls.<\/p>\n

Live jazz hums through Bemelmans Bar as I sit alone on a bench, jotting down notes. I take some extremely cute photos of the Madeline lamps that match the Ludwig Bemelmans murals, even though I am technically supposed to be reporting and not bonding with light fixtures. I spot Coco Rocha across the bar rocking a Maleficent hair situation and some Vanity Fair writers clustered at the bar ordering drinks. Someone mentions the Met still hasn\u2019t let out yet, which means I am both early and late to whatever social ecosystem is unfolding in Manhattan. I consider my options, which are to stay here and continue admiring the lamps, or get back into my car and pursue the next location.<\/p>\n

Stop 2: GQ After-Party Co-Hosted by Chase Infiniti, Damson Idris, Lisa, Paul Anthony Kelly, and Samuel Hine<\/p>\n

I head downtown to GQ at Caf\u00e9 Zaffri at The Twenty Two, where things immediately take a turn. A bartender opens a bottle of champagne with such force that the cork ricochets off the wall and nearly blinds someone. It feels like the most action the room has seen all night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was biting into a flaky croissant when Chloe Malle called, asking if I wanted to spearhead this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,260757,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-940489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-met-gala-2026","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116525012855382925","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}