CULTURE

A Real-Life Priest Was Told He Was the “Best Dressed Dude” at the 2018 Met Gala

Quite the honor.


Priests Praying
P Deliss/Getty Creative

At Monday night’s Catholicism-themed Met Gala, Pope Rihanna was the only one to really take on the clergy—except, of course, for the actual clergy, who drew plenty of compliments from some unsuspecting partygoers. As The Cut first reported, real-life Jesuit priest James Martin, SJ, was in attendance at fashion’s biggest night, where, among the sea of men in standard black suits (Chadwick Boseman, Darren Criss, and Jared Leto being some of the notable exceptions), his old-school vestments stood out (mind you, that’s vestements, not Vetements). So much so that he was told he was the “best dressed dude here, bro.”

“Actually said to me at the #MetGala tonight: ‘I love your costume.’ ‘Is that, like, for real?’ ‘Funky outfit!'” the priest tweeted later. “‘You’re the best dressed dude here, bro.’ (High fives me.) ‘You look just like the real thing.’ And, truly: ‘I love that you got dressed up as a sexy priest.'”

“Those are verbatim,” Martin added.

Unfortunately, the priest didn’t upload a picture, but he did include some other snaps from the Met Gala, which he attended with other clergy members, including His Eminence Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York. In a series of tweets, Martin praised Dolan’s presence at the gala and press conference, and said that the highlight of the Met Gala was “not the celebrities but the surprise appearance of the Sistine Chapel Choir, introduced by @CardinalDolan, singing ‘Sicut Cervis’ in the American Wing under a portrait of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment,’ from their home chapel.”

The gala’s “best dressed dude” also complimented the Met’s “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” exhibit. “It has been beautifully curated, and I was particularly impressed that the ‘Catholic parts’ of the museum’s descriptions are as accurate as the ‘fashion parts.’ I.e., the correct terminology, with accurate identifications of habits, cassocks, copes, etc,” he tweeted. “Thoughtfully done.”

Glad priests are finally getting their time in the high-fashion spotlight.

Related: See What Celebrities Wore to the 2018 Met Gala

Met Gala 2018: See What Celebrities Wore on the Red Carpet

Rihanna at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Cardi B at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Lily Collins at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Donald Glover at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Selena Gomez at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Katherine Langford at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Jasmine Sanders at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Rosie Huntington Whiteley at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Kate Upton at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Winnie Harlow at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Alek Wek at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Zendaya at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Priyanka Chopra at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Migos at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

George and Amal Clooney at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Lena Waithe at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Ariana Grande at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Kim Kardashian at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Blake Lively at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Bella Hadid at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

SZA at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Kendall Jenner at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Janelle Monae at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Emily Ratajkowski at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Daniel Kaluuya at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Gigi Hadid at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Katy Perry at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Paris Jackson at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans

Madonne and Nicki Minaj at the 2018 Met Gala. Photograph by Benedict Evans for W Magazine.

Benedict Evans
1/30