Metgala draws Chinese fashion bloggers' criticism

The theme was China: Through The Looking Glass. But to Chinese fashion bloggers some of the A-list women who attended the gala at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art were barely dressed and most simply missed the event's theme.

Most of the gowns worn on Monday night by models, actresses and other notables had nothing to do with the event's theme or barely connected with it or China's artistic influence on the West, they wrote on China's social media.

Thomas Ye, better known as Gogoboi, used Weibo, China's biggest social media platform, to criticize the "barely-there" Roberto Cavalli gown worn by Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry's low-cut Moschino gown and Madonna's off-the-shoulder gown and cape.

Sarah Jessica Parker's massive flame-flanked headdress with red tassels was reminiscent of the crown on Fuwa, the mascot for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and the dress that Jennifer Lawrence wore was like a bellyband torn apart, wrote Ye, one of the most influential fashion bloggers in China.

To manage a red carpet appearance requires more than a beautiful face, stunning shape and refined taste, knowledge and education are just as important, wrote Ye.

He compared singer Miley Cyrus's gown to "the torture tool usedagainst the criminals during China's Qing Dynasty", and the gown worn by Solange Knowles, a singer and Beyonce's sister,to a "monster clamshell in a Chinese fairy tale".

Many celebrities barely figured out what the Chinese theme was, with actress Anne Hathaway dressed like a princess from the Middle East, and singer Beyonce mistaking Chinese culture as African tribal culture, he wrote.

Shi Liupo mocked singer and actress Selena Gomez, saying she looked liked a child bride from Vietnam.And she also wrote that the super short custom Louis Vuitton gown worn by model Miranda Kerr and the checkerboard Chanel minidress by actress Dakota Johnson were too "saucyand seductive" and totally missed the gala's theme, while theBalenciaga outfit by designer Alexander Wang that Lady Gaga wore resembled something a witch would favor.

Some celebrities managed escape the bloggers'wrath for accurately interpreting Chinese culture, including Bee Shaffer, daughter of Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintourwho served as the host for the gala, wearing Alexander McQueen and actress Emily Blunt in a regal and classic Oriental-style Prada gown.

One gown that especially drew criticism of bloggers was worn bysinger Rihanna. The canary yellow dress by Chinese designer Guo Pei resembled an omelette, they wrote, and many photoshopped pictures of part of its long and wide trail into a pizza, Sponge Bob SquarePants and even an egg.

While many Westerners at the gala were mocked for their outfits, Chinese celebrities at the gala were praised by the fashion bloggers, singling out Chinese actresses Gong Li's deep red velvet gown with black lace with a fan design and Zhang Ziyi's Carolina Herrera ivory-colored gown with a fabric appliqué skirt that combined both traditional Chinese elements and the look of today's runway.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn