Ain't Nobody But The Designer Talm'bout Antoinette Of Color's Chick Fil-A Looking Dress...,

vanityfair  |  Everyone is talking about what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is wearing—again. The New York Congresswoman donned a white gown for the Met gala on Monday night that read, “Tax the Rich” in red type. And, as often happens when AOC puts a finger on the cultural scale, everyone from Trumpworld zealots to New York Times writers chimed in to comment on it. 

“Cost per Ticket: $30,000,” tweeted Republican Senator Ted Cruz. “Virtue signaling to your base while partying—without a mask—with the people you claim to hate: Priceless.” Donald Trump Jr. struck a similar note, writing, “What makes @AOC a bigger fraud: the “tax the rich” dress while she’s hanging out with a bunch of wealthy leftwing elites or the lack of masks?” Tabloids such as the Daily Mail and the New York Post chimed in. “America’s No.1 champagne socialist,” read the headline of a Daily Mail piece claiming that Ocasio-Cortez “wanted to enjoy the limelight while trying to pass it off as a political protest.” 

Times fashion director and chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman wrote that “attending the $35,000-a-ticket” event in such a dress “is a complicated proposition,” adding in a follow-up tweet, “Just seems she might have wanted that money used for something other than an elite party ticket.” (Manhattan Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s similarly statement-making dress prompted an entirely different reaction from Friedman.) 

“There’s no way I’d be doing this if it wasn’t with a woman of color and with the intent to grow the table and empower women that look like me,” she said in a press release circulated by a communications firm representing James. “Despite being held in New York City, the culture of the Met Gala is everything but. NYC is often synonymous with inclusivity, inviting millions of people from different walks of life to call this city home. The Met Gala, on the other hand, is seen as elite and inaccessible. I’m attending today because I want to change just that and spotlight women of color who are often not included during events like these.”