A Real-Life Priest Was Told He Was the “Best Dressed Dude” at the 2018 Met Gala
At Monday night’s Catholicism-themed Met Gala, Pope Rihanna was the only one to really take on the clergy—except, of course, for the actual clergy, who drew plenty of compliments from some unsuspecting partygoers. As The Cut first reported, real-life Jesuit priest James Martin, SJ, was in attendance at fashion’s biggest night, where, among the sea of men in standard black suits (Chadwick Boseman, Darren Criss, and Jared Leto being some of the notable exceptions), his old-school vestments stood out (mind you, that’s vestements, not Vetements). So much so that he was told he was the “best dressed dude here, bro.”
“Actually said to me at the #MetGala tonight: ‘I love your costume.’ ‘Is that, like, for real?’ ‘Funky outfit!'” the priest tweeted later. “‘You’re the best dressed dude here, bro.’ (High fives me.) ‘You look just like the real thing.’ And, truly: ‘I love that you got dressed up as a sexy priest.'”
“Those are verbatim,” Martin added.
Unfortunately, the priest didn’t upload a picture, but he did include some other snaps from the Met Gala, which he attended with other clergy members, including His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York. In a series of tweets, Martin praised Dolan’s presence at the gala and press conference, and said that the highlight of the Met Gala was “not the celebrities but the surprise appearance of the Sistine Chapel Choir, introduced by @CardinalDolan, singing ‘Sicut Cervis’ in the American Wing under a portrait of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment,’ from their home chapel.”
The gala’s “best dressed dude” also complimented the Met’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” exhibit. “It has been beautifully curated, and I was particularly impressed that the ‘Catholic parts’ of the museum’s descriptions are as accurate as the ‘fashion parts.’ I.e., the correct terminology, with accurate identifications of habits, cassocks, copes, etc,” he tweeted. “Thoughtfully done.”
Glad priests are finally getting their time in the high-fashion spotlight.
Related: See What Celebrities Wore to the 2018 Met Gala
Met Gala 2018: See What Celebrities Wore on the Red Carpet
Rihanna at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Cardi B at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Lily Collins at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Donald Glover at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Selena Gomez at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Katherine Langford at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Jasmine Sanders at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Rosie Huntington Whiteley at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Kate Upton at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Winnie Harlow at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Alek Wek at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Zendaya at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Priyanka Chopra at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Migos at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
George and Amal Clooney at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Lena Waithe at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Ariana Grande at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Kim Kardashian at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Blake Lively at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Bella Hadid at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
SZA at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Kendall Jenner at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Janelle Monae at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Emily Ratajkowski at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Daniel Kaluuya at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Gigi Hadid at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Katy Perry at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Paris Jackson at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
Madonne and Nicki Minaj at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.
