What André Leon Talley—A “Dandy Among Dandies”—Wore to His Met Galas

For André Leon Talley, attending the Met Gala might have felt like a homecoming. In 1974, two years out of Brown University, he interned at the Costume Institute with Diana Vreeland, who became his “surrogate mother.” In his 2003 memoir, ALT, Talley recalled his first-day-at-the-Met look: “ I’d arrived bright and early, wearing a lemon-yellow V-neck lambswool sweater, which Mama had bought me back in high school and of which I was quite fond. I hadn’t yet learned about six-ply cashmere. I was also wearing navy-blue alpaca trousers, the sort of pants my grandmother liked me to wear to church. I was as proper as could be.”

Talley—who always cut a dashing figure—joined Vogue in 1983 and soon became the magazine’s first Black creative director. His early Met Gala get-ups were festooned with sparkling diamond brooches. From the mid-’90s Talley began making sweeping statements, topping off his black-tie with magnificent custom-made court capes and coats, in the most luxurious of fabrics.

The editor, who in later years interviewed guests arriving at the Met for Vogue online, has an important presence in “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”—spiritually, historically, and materially. On view will be pieces from his magnificent wardrobe, including a caftan by Patience Torlowei, one of his Morty Sills suits, and pieces of his Louis Vuitton luggage. All of which is more than fitting, as Anna Wintour has written, “André was a dandy among dandies and he radiated joy.”

1983, “Yves Saint Laurent: 25 Years of Design”

1989, “From Queen to Empress: Victorian Dress 1837–1877”

1993, “Diana Vreeland: Immoderate Style”

1995, “Haute Couture”

1997, “Gianni Versace”

1998, “Cubism and Fashion”

1999, “Rock Style”

2003, “Bravehearts: Men in Skirts”

2003, “Goddess: The Classical Mode”

2004, “Dangerous Liasions: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century”

2005, “The House of Chanel”

2006 “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion”

2007, “Poiret: King of Fashion”

2008, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”

2009, “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion”

2010, “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”

2011, “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”

2013, “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”

2014, “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”

2015, “China: Through the Looking Glass”

2018, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”