T LOunge for May 7th 2024

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Girl, grab a seat. It’s TUESDAY, it’s the morning after the Met Gala, and we have absolutely NO time for clownery or small talk. We started a tab. Sit and wait for fabulousness to come your way.

Bitching About the Met Gala With Tom and Lorenzo
On Monday, May 6 — the first Monday in May — Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez are in go-mode. It’s time for the Met Gala, and, as fashion bloggers, that’s basically their Super Bowl. This year’s theme is “Garden of Time” (get ready for Katy Perry dressed as a grandfather clock) to pair with an exhibit titled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” which covers garments too delicate to be worn again. At a time when most mainstream fashion coverage will amount to an outpouring of “slay” headlines paired with uninformed social-media posts, it’s up to independent veterans like Tom and Lorenzo to bring intelligent, honest, and, when warranted, bitchy commentary to fashion’s biggest night.

The 23 Best- and Worst-Dressed Celebs at the 2024 Met Gala
Tom + Lorenzo are here to dissect the wild highs (and painful lows) of fashion’s prom night.
Fashion’s prom night has arrived once again, and the stars lined up patiently outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute for a chance to show off their best efforts interpreting either the Institute’s exhibition titled “Sleeping Beauties” or the encouraged theme of the evening, which was “The Garden of Time.” In other words, all bets were off in terms of channeling the theme. Unfortunately, a disappointing number of attendees made some dull decisions. Here’s who stood out to us at the 2024 Met Gala, for reasons good and bad.

Ariana Grande Closed Out The Met Gala With An Epic Performance – And A Special Guest Appearance From Cynthia Erivo
To cap off a thoroughly enchanting evening in honour of Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, the latest exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Ariana Grande and her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo were the surprise performers at the 2024 Met Gala.
In front of the Temple of Dendur – amidst a lush set conceived by Derek McKlane – Grande kicked off Monday night’s set solo, wearing bespoke Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano. (It marked a dramatic change from her look on the red carpet: a white Loewe dress with a prettily sculpted bodice.) Grande’s was a look with layers: beneath an off-white spider-webbed crinoline, worn over a diaphanous organdy smock embroidered with lace and thread, was – surprise! – a forest-green draped tulle dress with rosettes, hand-sprayed gold dust, and crystal and mirror embroideries over a draped tulle skirt, a body suit and a cincher in soft pastels.

Julia Fox Was Born for TV
Julia Fox’s new TV show, OMG Fashun, is here! Airing on E!, the design competition series follows “a new generation of designers who want to shake up the fashion industry.”
How it works is that each episode sees three different fashion “disruptors” creating a look based on thematic and socially topical challenges created by Fox herself, using unconventional materials and constructed in a short amount of time. Then, the looks are presented on the runway in front of the judging panel that includes Fox, Law Roach and a guest judge. The winner with the most unexpected and subversive look is crowned the winner, awarded a $10,000 cash prize and gets their garment modeled by Fox.

Why didn’t Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, Rihanna and more attend the Met Gala 2024?
They were sorely missed.
Did you notice a few of your faves were missing from the Met Gala 2024 red carpet? Namely, superstars like Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Blake Lively, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, and well, many more.
This year’s gala was skipped by quite a few A-listers and Met favourites, and their reasons for not attending the ball are super diverse: there’s a golfing injury, the flu, working late ’cause they are singers, and, of course, travel and tour schedules.

The Big Blood Sugar Spike – How Glucose Became The New Gluten
With blood sugar trackers like Zoe making headlines and the term trending on TikTok, is ‘glucose’ now a dirty word in the pursuit of wellness?
Perhaps it was a friend documenting their experience using the Zoe app and regaling you with tales of those blue biscuits. It might be that you follow the Glucose Goddess or have been served a flurry of new recipes to keep blood sugar levels balanced and cravings at bay.
Whatever it is, our collective fascination with ‘glucose’ has spiked, now with trackers and CGM monitoring our blood sugar levels on the daily, and our social media algorithms seemingly more preoccupied with the term than ever before.

Why It’s Illegal to Get Drunk in an English Pub
A law from 1872, leftover from the temperance movement, still stands today.
In the early 19th century, an idea spread from the United States to certain parts of Europe: Give up the booze.
Of course, this is a simplistic take on the temperance movement, but the idea of entirely abstaining from alcohol is said to have started in Saratoga, New York, in the early 1800s before expanding to different parts of the U.S. It eventually reached Ireland in 1829 and subsequently England soon after.

Scientists Explain Why Beer Tastes Better Cold
We’ll raise a cold one to that.
On a hot day, no one ever wants to go inside and grab a room-temperature beer, and hopefully the cursed phrase, “Time to crack into a lukewarm one,” hasn’t ever been spoken out loud.
Everyone knows that beer is best served cold. Heck, we still remember when the mountains on Coors Light’s color-changing labels turned a deep blue to let beer drinkers (and bartenders) know when each can had been cooled to its optimum temperature.
But why does beer taste better when it’s cold?

Seth Rogen on Taking Over the Hollywood Bowl For Netflix Is a Joke With Snoop Dogg and More Stars
“I currently have an orchestra that is currently learning how to play ‘California Love’ which is pretty great,” says the comedian and Houseplant cannabis brand founder of his plans for his May 7 Bowl show.
Seth Rogen is a transparent pot-lover, something audiences have been aware of all the way back to his 2008 stoner film Pineapple Express. In the last few years, the multi-dimensional creative, founder of the cannabis and smoking accessories brand Houseplant, also has found solace in creating artistic clay-molded ceramic pieces.
In addition to selling pre-rolls, Rogen’s first couple of Houseplant products were crafted and polished by his hands in a Los Angeles ceramics studio, such as tall retro ashtrays and blob-covered pots that appeared as if they materialized from a colorful scene in a Dr. Seuss novel. The company’s aim: destigmatize cannabis usage through tastefully sophisticated products with a pristine eye towards functional design.

If you want to belong, find a third place
Your neighborhood watering hole is more important than you think.
Meng Liu spent years ping-ponging around the world looking for community. It was her dream to live in New York City, but after she found it difficult to make friends, Liu moved to Los Angeles, where she faced similar social roadblocks. Loneliness followed her across the globe to Shanghai, where she again chased a sense of belonging that never came.
Thinking back on a comment a friend had made years ago, Liu had an epiphany. “Belonging isn’t some magical place that you can find in your next destination,” she recalled the friend saying. “It is where you feel most connected with the people around you, and that you have people who love you and that you love.”

Tiara of the month: the stunningly unique diadem given to Queen Victoria by the Sultan of Muscat for her coronation
With its elaborately decorated paintings, the Muscat Tiara is perhaps one of the most distinctive in the world
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was born 205 years ago on 24th May 1819. It is well-known that her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, was involved in the design and commissioning of many of her better known tiaras, crowns and coronets. However, her collection also included the less familiar Muscat Tiara, a gift from Sayyid Saïd, the Sultan of Muscat and Oman given to her in 1838 just weeks after her coronation.

What it’s like to stay at The Mark hotel for the Met Gala, where Anna Wintour, the Kardashians and Paris Hilton have all checked in on the first Monday in May
Tatler’s Features Director takes up residence in a suite at the most glamorous hotel on the Upper East Side to find out exactly what awaits the luckiest of Met Gala attendees
It’s the first Monday in May and The Mark Hotel is sold out: it has been fully booked for this day for almost a year. Why? Not only is it one of Manhattan’s most upmarket hotels; it’s also a three-minute drive to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. So if you happen to be one of the lucky few staying, you will experience the ‘pre red carpet red carpet’ out front, especially cut to accommodate the Mark’s huge plant pots; a cacophony of paparazzi vying for the first shots to will hit wires ahead of the actual Met Gala red carpet; and the tiny golden elevator packed full of clothing rails whisking Tom Ford and Chanel and Versace up to… who knows? Anna Wintour, the Delevingnes, Paris Hilton, all the Kardashians, Lily James and Nicola and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham are all firm possibilities. It’s fashion meets movie star meets heiress. So if you are lucky enough to descend into the black and white marble-floored lobby of this fabulous 1927 building on that particular evening, you are either a star or the glam squad.

Who was Eleanor Lambert? The glamorous publicist who founded the Met Gala
One of the most influential names in 20th century New York, Lambert became an icon thanks to her style, her clients – and her immense talent
The first Monday in May sees gowns buttoned, skin buffed and jewels polished for the Met Gala: one of the social calendar’s most prestigious nights, which celebrates the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring exhibition and the long-standing relationship between art and fashion.
These days, tickets can fetch up to $75,000 and the red carpet looks – which are expected to abide by an annually changing, themed dress code – involve bespoke designs, haute couture and priceless jewellery pulled from the vaults (see Dua Lipa’s 100-carat diamond Tiffany necklace at last year’s gala). All this is nothing, however, to the value of being seen at fashion’s most coveted night out.

Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness
Using powerful technologies, scientists found staggering amounts of lead and other toxic substances in the composer’s hair that may have come from wine, or other sources.
A cottage industry of fans and experts has debated various theories. Was it Paget’s disease of bone, which in the skull can affect hearing? Did irritable bowel syndrome cause his gastrointestinal problems? Or might he have had syphilis, pancreatitis, diabetes or renal papillary necrosis, a kidney disease?
After 200 years, a discovery of toxic substances in locks of the composer’s hair may finally solve the mystery.

A Chandelier Occupied by Fish
The story behind the unusual form of a French chandelier made in the early 1800s
One of the most popular objects in the Getty Museum’s collection of decorative arts is a chandelier made in Paris during the early 1800s by Gérard Jean Galle, an artist who produced luxury items out of gilt bronze.
The chandelier is a work of extreme novelty: it has 18 candles for illuminating a room after dark, and includes a glass bowl intended to hold water and small goldfish.
Galle described how the swimming fish would amuse the viewer. This idea reflected a design theory at the time suggesting that objects should be not only functional but also gratifying to the eye and the imagination. The fanciful nature of the chandelier would truly come to life when the candles were lit and fish were added to the bowl. Imagine how warm and lively candlelight would reflect off the gilt bronze, the faceted glass drops, the water, and the moving fish to animate this remarkable object—presenting a fascinating spectacle for the work’s owner and guests.

Law Roach Has Some Advice for Young Designers
Law Roach called up our senior editor Taylore Scarabelli ahead of the premiere of OMG Fashion, a new E! competition series in which the image architect co-stars opposite the actor and muse Julia Fox, to discuss sustainability, The Met Gala, and judging young designers.

Drag Race queen Shannel owns Lucille Ball’s makeup and shoes among huge collection of I Love Lucy memorabilia
The season 1 star and returning “AS9” queen tells EW she has shoes Ball wore daily to rehearse on “I Love Lucy.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 1 alum Shannel — the first-ever queen to walk into RuPaul’s Werk Room back in 2009 — is happy to do some explaining when it comes to her collection of Lucille Ball memorabilia.
“As far as how much? Too much. There’s so much,” the Las Vegas queen and returning All Stars 9 competitor exclusively tells Entertainment Weekly in the video interview above, referencing her massive haul that represents one of the largest collections of Ball artifacts in the world. “I do have a pair of shoes that Lucy almost always rehearsed in when she was doing I Love Lucy. I have some of her makeup that was used back in the day, and some prop pieces that were actually used on set of I Love Lucy.”

10 Ways to Brighten a Dark Room, According to Interior Designers
There are several design strategies you can utilize to create the illusion of natural light in your home.
Interior rooms with little to no natural light can be challenging to decorate. Colors typically feel more saturated, and décor can look bulky in the shadows. These spaces often feel uninviting, which isn’t ideal—especially if it’s a room where you spend a lot of time, like the bedroom or living area. We spoke with interior designers to learn some simple design tricks that can quickly brighten up a dark room.

The Right Way to Store Zucchini So It Stays Fresh Longer
Follow our expert tips to keep this favorite summer squash fresh.
Summer is prime time for zucchini, a type of squash known for its high water content and mild, grassy flavor. But unlike its winter counterparts (such as butternut squash and pumpkin), zucchini has a thinner skin, making it more perishable. To get the most out of your summer squash, it’s worth learning how to properly store zucchini, whether whole, cut, or cooked. Learn the best practices according to a food scientist, food safety expert, chef, and cooking teacher, plus tips for extending the shelf life of this popular vegetable.

How to Clean an Area Rug the Right Way, According to Experts
Keep your area rugs in mint condition with these expert-approved cleaning tips.
Knowing how to clean an area rug will ensure these floor coverings retain their color, pattern, and beauty over time. Using the wrong products or ingredients that are too harsh can damage the fibers and cause them to degrade faster, as can letting dust and dander build up. To ensure you care for your area rugs the right way, we spoke to two experts who shared their tips for cleaning and removing stains from different types of rugs.

This Southern Town Is One of the Best Food Cities in America With a Boutique Hotel Scene to Match
Asheville’s boutique hotel scene is booming with new properties paying homage to the town’s creative energy and culture.
Nestled among the breathtaking beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains, Asheville has evolved into a bustling hospitality hub boasting critically acclaimed restaurants, independent boutiques, over 50 craft breweries, and live music venues.
But in the past year, the town’s luxury boutique hotel scene has also grown with several properties inspired by its rich history, culture, and natural beauty, making it possible for visitors to experience the creative, culinary, and historical facets of Asheville in an authentic and immersive way.

I Saw Almost All 18 New Spring Shows on Broadway — Here Are the Best Ones to See
New York–based theater critic Barbara Schuler on the best new shows on Broadway right now.
Oh, the pressure. When you write about theater, it’s hard to get away from people (friends, family, minor acquaintances) inquiring about the best show to see on Broadway. Understandable, what with tickets so expensive and especially this spring, with 18 new shows opening in March and April alone.
Of course, my opinion (like everyone else’s) is completely subjective. But after seeing most of the new productions that have opened in the past few months, here are the ones I’m encouraging people to see — diplomatically listed in alphabetic order.

[Photo Credit: designlsm.com]

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