The First Monday in May Review

I am not immersed in the world of fashion at all. Any and all of my fashion education comes from one of my best friends who lives for that world. I appreciate it with an ignorant eye, in the sense that I know very little but fully enjoy the spectacle of the clothing and the people that come with it.

The First Monday in May is one of the few fashion documentaries that I’ve really delved into. I figured it might be something I would enjoy after watching The September Issue (the iconic annual issue of Vogue) and being thoroughly enamoured with a world I had never put much thought into. I was right.

This documentary highlights The Met Gala, one high fashions exclusive and premiere events, something that I follow on social media, eagerly looking through the photos containing all the A-list celebrities in the most stunning outfits I have ever seen. Though I can’t honestly say that prior to this documentary I had any idea what actually went on at the Gala itself.

The Met Gala raises money every year for The Fashion Institute at the museum and basically puts together the funds to keep the museum going. Anna Wintour, who is arguably the most powerful person in the fashion industry, oversees the event along with the Met’s curator Andrew Bolton. The particular exhibit that the feature highlights is China: Through the Looking Glass and just wow. The preparation and meticulous planning that goes into an event that many consider frivolous was just utterly and completely eye opening in the best possible ways.

The documentary does a wonderful job of letting the story tell itself. There’s no narration from the crew which allows the people within the film to go through their experiences leading up to the big event. There are so many people who make the Gala what it is and I was thoroughly captivated by all of it and how conscious an effort it was to highlight the history of a country and not just the fashion itself.

Ugh. It was just amazing.

Verdict
Watch it immediately. Even if fashion is not your thing, it’s impossible not to have an appreciation for it and for all of the work that goes into the curation of the Met Gala while watching the film.

The documentary is filled with the most interesting people and I honestly think I’d watch individual documentaries on almost all of them.

The First Monday in May is not to be missed, especially if you enjoyed previous fashion documentaries such as The September Issue.

PS – my god I love Anna Wintour. I may not know squat about fashion but that woman is everything that a businesswoman should be and I am just in constant awe of her. In the film Andrew Bolton and Baz Luhrman both remark that if she were born a man, she wouldn’t have the reputation of being The Dragon Lady (a subtle metaphor thrown in to coincide with the theme of the Gala) and I just can’t get over the admiration I have for a woman that I have no real attachment to as far as her chosen industry goes.