While watching the red carpet at Monday night’s Met Gala, I couldn’t help but think of a prophecy I heard from Emily Kirkpatrick, who writes Substack’s newsletter “I <3 Mess." She recently told me that by the end of 2024, it's possible "someone will show up completely naked on the red carpet."
That didn’t happen at this year’s gala, but Doja Cat, who appeared at the Grammy Awards earlier this year in what was dubbed the “nakedest dress of all time,” presented at the Met Gala wearing a long dress. That moment was very close. A clingy, drenched, transparent, fully revealing white T-shirt from the Vetements label.
Nudity is almost everywhere, at least among celebrities and adjacent celebrities. Kanye West’s 29-year-old partner Bianca Sensori wore sheer pantyhose with her cropped jacket and appeared to be wearing nothing underneath, with only the center seam of her stockings showing. Retaining her modesty, she wandered the streets of Paris. Julia Fox attended a fashion presentation wearing three silver medallions that covered her private parts under a long, frequently parted trench coat.
This near-nude appearance is not, as you might imagine, evidence of an increasingly oversexed culture, but rather of an increasingly oversexed culture.
For the first time in decades, America seems to be showing more skin on red carpets as we slouch over an era of undeniable sexual decline and become numerically less randy. Americans are having less sex, and the trend is most pronounced among young people, who have seen a significant decline in sexual activity. A 2021 UCLA survey of California residents found that nearly 40% of 18- to 30-year-olds surveyed reported not having had a sexual partner in the past year, up from 22% a decade ago. It turned out that it was.
There are many theoretical explanations, from excessive use of phones and social media and the prevalence of online pornography to the fact that more young people are living alone. Whatever the reason, it’s clear there’s one thing more people aren’t doing. It’s probably not because people masturbate more. These numbers are relatively stable.
Even in this sexless situation, celebrities and people who attract attention are out doing almost nothing. Of course, skimpy costumes are nothing new. Almost 25 years ago, Jennifer Lopez made red carpet history with a body-taped Versace dress. But new public nudity feels less like an expression of an age-old desire to stimulate pleasure and more like the product of a very new desire to foster engagement.
There has always been a dance, often a literal dance, between showing skin and encouraging arousal. The excitement depends not only on what is revealed, but also on what is hidden. But if revealing skin was once meant to direct or powerfully co-opt the problematic but ubiquitous male gaze—imagine Marilyn Monroe’s skirt splayed across the sidewalk bars. –The new public nudity is a bald attention-seeking drama enacted for sober people. The paparazzi gaze provides these images to a desensitized public.
Perhaps that’s what gives this new nude a strangely hedonistic vibe. The clothing is technically revealing, but it’s oddly neutralized. In the arms race for eyeballs, showing skin has been colonized by the desire for clicks, the only real currency in the attention economy. Sex has finally been stripped from nudity.
Some may see all of this as a sign of progress or body positivity. But a notable aspect of the new fashion nothingness is that no one seems to be having much fun with it. In the Instagram comments section, many commenters of both genders expressed their exhaustion under the widely circulated photo of Mr. Sensori. oh! more OK, please buy me some clothes.. On the far right of the “trad wife” spectrum, there are people who have developed AI-based apps that specialize in adding clothing back to photos of nearly naked women (unfortunately, often wearing aprons). Too much). Even in the world of high fashion, where breasts visible under sheer shirts cause little ruffles on the Paris runways, the lack of coverage on a toned body can be used in lieu of well-cut clothes and actual style. Critics are becoming increasingly irritated by what is being said. At this winter’s Saint Laurent show, Vanessa Friedman of the Times pointedly pointed out, “Enough boobs.”
I still agree with Mr. Kirkpatrick. It’s only a matter of time before Lady Godiva hits the runway. But the beginnings of a backlash are likely underway. Overall, the Met Gala seemed less nude than last year, as many of the most notable stars were covered to the point of being upholstered. Lil Nas X wore silver bikini bottoms at last year’s gala. This year, he wore full-cut pants and a long cocoon coat. Gigi Hadid wore a transparent swimsuit dress in 2023, but this year she wore a classically shaped Thom Browne frock that looked like it was layered with dozens of cricket club blazers. Kim Kardashian wore a dangerously tight corset this year. But she also sweater.
This collection of looks wasn’t exactly a victory for regaining mystery. But it’s not like nothing happened, at least not literally.
Mireille Silkov is a cultural critic and author of the short story collection Chez L’Arabe.
Source photo: Epoxydude, Francesco Carta fotografo, Kuzmik_A/Getty Images
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