As she gets ready for the party of the year, Rosamund Pike talks wardrobe crises with Style magazine.
You know the feeling: the tiny heart-skip of hope, followed by the surge of possibility, followed by the joyous certainty that this, finally, will be your night of nights.
Sometimes, although not very often, an invitation to a particularly special party arrives through the letter box. One that is printed on stiff card and asks for formal dress; one that, at first glance, seems enticingly full of promise. Of course, the feeling doesn’t last, because after two minutes of bathing in the warmth of infinite possibility, the cool wind of logic blows in. The logic says, while you may be set for an unforgettable night at this do, what, exactly, are you going to wear?
The actress Rosamund Pike is going to a party like that next week. An important, scary one. The event is the Costume Institute Ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, and it’s a big deal in fashion circles. This year’s hosts are Giorgio Armani and Anna Wintour.
To get an idea of how big a deal the Met Ball is, think of it this way. You’re walking down the aisle at your wedding, but, instead of 150 loving friends and family, you’re being watched by 400 shrieking photographers. At the end of the aisle, it’s not the sweet face of your beloved waiting for you, but the icy scrutiny of “Nuclear” Wintour. And forget about jolly photo-album postmortems with the girls. After the Met Ball, your outfit is fair game for hundreds of bitchy celebrity-fashion websites, which know that the more acidic their criticism of your outfit is, the more people will read them. One false style manoeuvre, honey, and you’re fashion mincemeat.