Last night, while everyone was tuned into the Met Gala in real time, I was working.

Yep.

In addition to my full-time role as an instructional math coach, I also work as a part-time curriculum writer. It’s not easy balancing two jobs, parenting, and graduate school, but I am blessed to be employed when layoffs feel like they’re happening every day.

I wasn’t too pressed about missing the arrivals live because that’s what YouTube is for. So when I woke up this morning, I watched a bit of what I could from the Associated Press livestream while getting ready for work.

This year’s theme was “Fashion is art,” and I couldn’t wait to see which celebrity would take that in the most literal sense.

As someone who’s still learning how to see art through local exhibits like “Beyond the Canvas” by Kandy G. Lopez and “Bread and Butter” by Ashleigh Walters, I found myself approaching the event in a different light this year.

There were a few looks that made me pause.

And I’ll be honest, I’m still learning when it comes to art, so I’m not out here catching every single reference on my own. I actually came across an article from WWD that broke down all of the art inspirations from the night, and that helped me see things a little more clearly.

But even with that, there were a few that were my favorites.

Madonna (Saint Laurent) was one of the first that caught my attention. Her look, inspired by “The Temptation of St. Anthony, Fragment II” by Leonora Carrington, pulled from a more surreal, slightly dark piece. I appreciated that it wasn’t the easiest thing to translate into fashion.

Hunter Schafer (Prada) was completely different. Much softer, more delicate, inspired by Gustav Klimt’s “Mäda Primavesi.”

Then there was Ben Platt (Tanner Fletcher), inspired by Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” His look felt more playful, but still thoughtful.

And what’s a Met Gala without Heidi Klum (Mike Marino)? Her look, inspired by “The Veiled Virgin” by Giovanni Strazza, felt like a sculpture brought to life.

But there were two looks that stole my heart.

Angela Bassett (Prabal Gurung) was one of them. First off, when does Angela Bassett not take my breath away? Her look, inspired by “Girl in Pink Dress” by Laura Wheeler Waring, is one for the books.

And then there was Amy Sherald.

She didn’t pull from a historic painting or reinterpret someone else’s work. She stepped onto the carpet inspired by her own piece, Miss Everything. This wasn’t fashion meeting art. It was the artist standing in her own work, in real time.

It made me think about how often Black artists are referenced versus how often they’re actually centered. But in that moment, Amy was able to do both.

With that, I still found myself thinking about what it would look like to see someone step onto that carpet inspired by Tamara Natalie Madden. Something like Women in Headscarf with Humming Bird or The Black Queen.

Or what it would look like to see an interpretation of Kehinde Wiley’s Wanda Crichlow (Portrait of Catharina Both van der Eem).

This night also would have been the perfect opportunity to capture the energy of a Nick Cave Soundsuit.

As much as I enjoyed seeing how fashion and art came together that night, I couldn’t ignore the tension surrounding the event.

This year’s Met Gala, co-chaired by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, came with several protests leading up to it. There were even reports of activists placing bottles inside the museum to call attention to the way some Amazon workers have described their working conditions.

What really stood out to me was the mayor of New York City choosing not to attend. That alone said a lot.

It made me think about how something can be so beautiful on the surface, but still be surrounded by real concerns underneath. Because while we’re watching these incredible looks inspired by art, there’s also the reality of the current economy, wealth, labor, and who gets to exist comfortably in this country.

It’s honestly been hard not to notice how much things have shifted over the last couple of years. Home prices feel out of reach. Wages don’t always match the cost of living. And layoffs seem like they’re happening more often than they should.

So when it comes to conversations around companies like Amazon and Target, I’m not disconnected from it. I haven’t completely stopped shopping at either one, but I have been able to reduce how much I shop with them by about 90 percent. As a mom, balancing work, time, and convenience, I’m still figuring out what alignment looks like for me in real life.

But I do think being aware matters. And making small changes where I can… that matters too.

If you’re interested in another perspective on the event, one of my favorite fashion and political influencers shared their take here: