Picture this: a cherry-red carpet stretched the length of the quad path that divides the center of campus. The sun is shining, everyone is dressed to the nines and the campus groundhog has a front-row seat to the entire show. The guests approach Founders Hall and strike a pose in their glamorous outfits for none other than event photographer Michael Crouch.
It’s the Quaker Met Gala: Guilfordian Style.
Bailey Prewitt is a first-year at Guilford with a love for fashion. Practically her entire dorm closet is filled with the dozens of clothes she’s brought with her from her home in Kalispell, Mont.
Prewitt, a member of the women’s volleyball team, is typically seen balling out in her crimson red jersey, not only serving looks, but also aces in the Ragan-Brown Field House. Off the court, Prewitt lets her style take over campus. Her typical attire consists of low-waisted denim blue jeans, a graphic baby tee and her fresh pair of Adidas kicks.
When she has time on the weekends, she’s out shopping for her next dazzling outfit that she’ll show up in for class Monday morning. Perhaps one of these days, she’ll have to find herself her very own outfit for the Quaker Gala.
The traditional Met Gala is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art every year in the first week of May. It’s a fundraising gala for the Costume Institute that began in 1946 and has since evolved to one of the largest fashion events in the nation.
Celebrities all across the board, from music to film and fashion, are invited to join for a night of fashion celebration all toward a good cause. Icons like Rihanna, the Kardashians and Jennifer Lopez reappear on the top secret guest list each year. Vogue describes it as “the Super Bowl of fashion.”
“I like the Met Gala because everybody that comes dresses differently,” Prewitt said. “It doesn’t really matter how expensive it is or what brand they’re wearing. It’s about creativity, since you don’t want to dress the same.”
With all of the clothes that Prewitt has compiled in her closet, there’s barely any room to spare. But that doesn’t stop her roommate, Chandler Morales, from bringing her own sense of style to the table.
Morales, a first-year who took a gap year to travel abroad, is also a fan of the Gala and has been intently watching for the past three years. It’s safe to say that all her traveling has exposed her to various fashion styles, all of which have allowed her to hone in on her own.
“I love the Met Gala because people get to express themselves through their clothing, but it also allows new designers and creators to get exposure for their work,” Morales said.
Both Prewitt and Morales agree that the idea of a Guilfordian Met Gala deserves more attention.
“I think the theme should be Majors Reimagined,” Morales said. “People would sort of dress as their intended major, but in a cooler, more Met Gala-esque type of way.”
Prewitt had a slightly different vision. Instead of gearing it toward academia, she proposed a theme involving more of the college’s history.
“I would like to see a Colonial theme,” she said. “People could base their outfits off the first settlers of America. It could even be altered to that of a Quaker, show ‘em our roots.”
In 2024, the theme for the Gala was Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, and in the previous year it was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. Each year, celebrities show up in their finest designs according to what they believe is the best representation of that year’s theme. But it doesn’t look the same for everyone. In fact, uniqueness is highly encouraged if you want to be remembered by fashion fans for years to come. Above and beyond is the only way to go.
As students like Prewitt and Morales start to envision the future of a Met Gala on campus, it begs the question of whether or not it could become a reality at Guilford to put on such an event. How many others would be interested in attending, who would send the invites, and what would the funds go toward? Would a Quaker Gala evolve in the years to come?
It might be time to pop over to the Friendly Center for some shopping; the perfect dress could be peeking out around the corner, begging to be worn for its first time on that shiny red carpet outside of Founders Hall.
