No. More. Sleeps.

Well, for me anyway, because I plan to stay up late tonight and start working on tomorrow’s Met Gala posts, and by God they better make it worth my while! Last year’s event was sullied by the presence of a Kardashian dressed as a Kouch, and afterwards Gwyneth Paltrow had one of her too-privileged-to-function whinges about how crowded and hot and unpleasant it was. Crucially, the fashion was also a bit of let down. This year’s theme, Charles James: Beyond Fashion, didn’t, at first glance, appear to be very exciting, and Marc Jacob’s has already gone on record with his lack of enthusiasm, calling the theme is “straightforward” and “not as exciting as wearing a lace dress and boxer shorts.” It’s true that there’s practically no room for the men to experiment, as the rules for white tie are pretty rigid and so Jacobs will be wearing “Black with white tie, as the dress code asks for.”

For the women, it’s hard to know what to expect, but given what a snooze fest last year’s Punk: From Chaos to Couture turned out to be, maybe it’s better that they’re looking to a designer who turned spectacular ball gowns into an art form for inspiration. After all, if people are effectively going to ignore the theme and just turn up in a spectacular ball gown anyway, like they did last year, why not give them an absolute master of the craft to emulate? Take a look at some of the 75 Charles James dresses set to go on exhibit for an idea of what brief the designers are working to…

Vogue posted this preview of the accompanying exhibit, which opens to the public on May 8th in the newly christened Anna Wintour Costume Centre, and if you were worried that the year in which she put a porn star on the cover of Vogue might have led to a drop in her stock, it seems she is still held in as high esteem as ever (i.e. people are still scared shitless of her.) The official opening took place today, and the ribbon was cut by Michelle Obama – which I hope means she’ll be there tonight! Also in attendance was a who’s who of American and European fashion, and yet… no photo wall! So most of the photos were boring candid shots and don’t show their outfits, but as long as they all deliver tonight that’s the main thing!

Michelle Obama cuts the ribbon on the Anna Wintour Costume Centre in a Naeem Kahn Dress.

Anna Wintour will cut her if she doesn’t do it exactly right.

The FLOTUS closes in for the world’s most awkward hug…

Anna Wintour doesn’t do hugs…

Mobama won’t let it go.

Anna appears to be showing some signs of emotional response and the other lady makes a run for it.

Anna should have made a run for it too, because now they’re touching heads, like they’re cats. Could this BE any more awkward?

Yes it could. She still won’t let go!

Also attending, BFFs DVF and SJP

ALT, FTW

According to Getty Images, this is “Fashion designers Ralph Lauren and Stella McCartney with an unidentified man…” Get to fuck, Getty! That’s Alber Elbaz!

Channeling Jean Dujardin, Marc Jacobs practices his debonaire look for tonight.

Jesus. How much did they photoshop Lady Gaga for those Versace ads?

The red carpet arrivals should be kicking off any minute. I’m not attempting a live blog, because my computer is too lame, but the uber-fashionable Minnie Melange will be covering the carpet here so follow the carpet in real time there, and I’ll see you on the other side!

TDD.