FASHION Magazine

As the buzz surrounding tonight’s Met Gala reaches a fever pitch, many websites have done a good job of reflecting on the event’s storied past—the dresses, the glamour, the history-making moments! And while dishing on the red carpet has become a full on spectator sport, what happens beyond the velvet rope is something many of us plebes will really never experience. In the context of high society’s glittering history, the Met Gala is just one of many cool parties the crème de le crème mingle at. In 2011, Assouline published a retrospective on the greatest balls of the last century (the book has been on my must-own list since) and here we count down five that have made us green with past life regression envy.

Sweet, sweet, surrealist joy. The Met’s Costume Institute has confirmed next spring’s mega exhibit, Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada: On Fashion, set to run from May 10 through August 19, 2012. As we originally reported in August, the exhibit will focus on the connections between the two Italian designers who, while working in completely different eras, share proclivities for the oddball, uncanny, and arty—Schiaparelli with her ’30s collabs with Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau, and Prada with her ongoing relationships with some of today’s best known architects, artists, and foundations.

Ever since the Met Costume Institute’s record-breaking Alexander McQueen exhibit closed, we’ve been itching to know what its successor would be. Well hear ye, ladies of quirk: Miuccia Prada and the legendary Elsa Schiaparelli are the next in line to be celebrated. While an official release from the museum has yet to be released, we’re thinking that WWD is a pretty credible source.

Both women brought Italian fashion into the spotlight but are known for very different styles. Schiaparelli was a close friend and collaborator of Salvador Dalí and repeatedly plucked from his surrealist inspirations. In fact, she is most known for her lobster dress of 1937, which was created in collaboration with Dalí (and once worn by Wallis Simpson). Prada, on the other hand, might need less of an introduction. Her titanic influence on the industry has been solidly felt across the world (as if spring’s infamous stripes didn’t say it on their own).

Curators Harold Koda and Andrew Bolton no doubt have some surprises up their sleeves, and we are dying to see what they have in store. Are they as excited as we are?

Not just a surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí was also a prolific pitchman. He fronted for Alka-Seltzer, Braniff and in 1968, even Lanvin. Actually Lanvin chocolate. (The house went through a bit of a rough period.) A chocolate apparently so delicious, your handlebar mustache will vibrate. [Jezebel]

Video after the jump.