Prior to Instagram and TikTok (both of which have sponsored recent Met Galas, it’s worth noting), those of us commenting online were talking about the Met, but posts didn’t travel the same way on Tumblr, or you had to visit blogs days later to get the full digest (remember Fashion Spot?). It was also simply not that serious — plus, the commentary was insular, not created with virality as its goal, and oftentimes based on what we found online by the media rather than preceding it.

That changed around 2014 when the ‘Punk’ Theme generated more discourse thanks to Miley Cyrus’s sheer number. And by 2015, Rihanna became the first and most-memed Met Gala guest, with her infamous yellow Guo Pei coat filling the entirety of the Met staircase.

When fashion literacy makes us too literal

The problem with the internet becoming the Met dress code police is that it allows little room for the subtle interpretations that make fashion so interesting to look at. What made the ‘Camp’ Met Gala so compelling was that the theme, exacting as it was, left room for interpretation because it hinged on an understanding of an academic and esoteric concept.

But we now live in the age of “method dressing”, which was first introduced by Zendaya and stylist Law Roach to reference her films — from Spiderman to Dune and Challengers — on the red carpet while promoting them. It reached a fever pitch last year on Margot Robbie’s Barbie press tour. The popularity of this style of celebrity dressing is a direct reflection of this Met-dress code obsession. It’s thematic, literal, and easy to interpret: does that green dress count as tennis green? Is that look a direct Barbie reissue? Just because Rihanna dressed as a Pope once doesn’t mean that everyone should show up to the Met in costume, does it?

The reality is that events like the Met or the Oscars are also showcases for massive marketing efforts by brands. If you have something to promote, should you prioritise that over a suggested theme? Valentino outfitted Sebastian Stan and Glenn Close in Pink PP for the 2022 Met Gala to align with its pink commercial push for autumn 2022 — it would have been interesting to see the label riff off the Gilded Glamour code within the constraints of the push, yet we can’t blame them for sticking to their own agenda.

A possible path is perhaps what Billie Eilish and Oscar de la Renta did the year prior, when it was shared that the singer agreed to wear the brand as long as they’d commit to stop using fur. The look was arguably on theme with a nod to Marilyn Monroe, an American fashion icon.

Our collective obsession with the theme, I think, is twofold. Folks like to partake in the zeitgeist-y conversation, and the dress code allows for an easy way in. But the truth is that what all fashion fans love, too, is dreamy, fantastical fashion. What the Met Gala does is provide one night a year in which we are guaranteed fashion will be at its most creative and outlandish. Collections have, particularly since the pandemic, progressively leaned further into the commercial and the pragmatic. Fewer designers present clothes for the sake of capital-F ‘Fashion’, opting instead for what they will be putting in stores. It’s the way our industry has evolved, but for one night only, we get to dream on. Perhaps the internet commentariat should adjust expectations and lean into said fantasy.

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at [email protected].

This article first appeared on vogue.com

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