Former First Lady Hillary Clinton made a grand return at the Met Gala after a 20-year hiatus on Monday, May 2. The former First Lady sported a deep red dress, designed by Joseph Altuzzara. Hillary, 74, revealed that her dress played into the “In America” theme by having the names of famous female American leaders stitched into the dress. Hillary last attended the Met Gala in 2001, when she was a Senator for New York.
Clinton revealed that some of the names stitched into the gown included the likes of Abigail Adams, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and many more, including the former presidential candidate’s own mom Dorothy Rodham. The names could be made out in elegant script in the center of the gown. With all the classic, historical figures, it was a perfect piece for the “gilded glamour” dress code for the evening.
Joseph revealed that he’d put much thought into the dress beforehand in an interview with Vogue. “When someone like Hillary goes to the Met, it’s not just like, ‘there’s Hillary at the Met and she’s wearing a dress.’ It has a lot of significance. I felt like I had to be very thoughtful about what the dress would mean to the theme and to the occasion,” he said.
It’s not uncommon for New York politicians to attend the Met Gala. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made an appearance for the event in September 2021 with a stunning white dress with one of her frequently-used campaign slogans: “Tax The Rich” printed on it. After some backlash, she tweeted out a response to her critics, letting them know that many New York politicians attended the event. “Before anybody starts wilding out — NYC elected officials who are regularly invited to attend the Met due to our responsibilities in overseeing our city’s cultural institutions that serve the public,” she wrote.