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The legendary Met Gala actually takes place in May—the first Monday!—but many of us are gearing up in April. This spring, the Costume Institute’s exhibition is titled “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and promises to be a cultural and historical examination of the Black dandy, from this gentleman’s emergence in Enlightenment Europe during the 18th century to his contemporary incarnations in London, New York, and Paris. Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams are the starry cochairs for the May 5 gala. The honorary chair is LeBron James, and of course, Anna Wintour is in the mix as well.
To celebrate the show, this edition of Lynn Loves Jewelry is dedicated to jewelry that has been traditionally reserved for men—so there are cuff links, and maybe even the occasional tie clasp and a bravely anachronistic stud set. (Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t even know what this is. Hint: It has to do with that starched shirt you don with your tuxedo.)
And of course, even though so many of these items spend their lives languishing in a sad little case in the men’s department, this doesn’t mean they haven’t been embraced by women who gleefully discover them hiding in plain sight. Who doesn’t want a chunky signet ring on her pinky, or a single diamond earring—the bigger, the better—decorating her lobe? And turnabout is fair play as well. Up until maybe five years ago, you didn’t see a lot of men sporting humongous brooches on their lapels. But if these pins have been dying a quiet death for decades—women have rejected them wholesale, and instead have been turning them into necklaces, charms, and anything but brooches—men have moved in, and now these sparklers dazzle from the fanciest monkey suits on the planet. (Think about it: For better or worse, the faintly inane “What are you wearing?” is now a standard question for men as well as women on the red carpet.)
Which just goes to show that jewelry—like gender!—is a social construct. The only rule is there are no rules. So stick that cufflink in your hair, wrap that thick chain around your ankle, rock that humongous initial ring. In other words, wear what you will, be who you are, and see you at “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” opening May 10 at The Met.
