NEW YORK, May 2: Move over Instagram (or Snapchat) — the Met Gala was the place to announce pregnancies Monday night, at least if you’re Serena Williams or Karlie Kloss.

NEW YORK, May 1: An enormous fluffy, white, blue-eyed Burmese cat mascot ascended the Metropolitan Museum of Art steps on Monday in homage to Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved pet “Choupette,” who later revealed himself as actor Jared Leto, bringing a whole new meaning to this year’s Met Gala dress code “in honor of Karl.”

NEW YORK, April 22: Last year, it took 275,000 bright pink roses to adorn the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the Met Gala, the biggest night in fashion and one of the biggest concentrations of star power anywhere.

All that “gilded glamour” brought in some real gold. This year’s Met Gala earned a record $17.4 million, museum officials said Tuesday. The annual gala is a fundraiser for the self-funding Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The money pays for operating the institute and putting on annual blockbuster exhibits like the current “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” which was launched at the gala Monday night and opens to the public on May 7. That exhibit is part of a broader two-part exhibit exploring the roots of American fashion.

A New York City love story played out on the Met Gala steps Monday with a proposal. The engagement stopped live celebrity interviews as Met Gala guests turned to look to see former assembly candidate Bobby Digi Olisa get down on one knee and propose to Commissioner of New York City Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo.

Musician Lizzo wore a black dress with a gold-embroidered jacket and carried a gold flute that she played briefly on the red carpet. Billie Eilish appeared in a light green Gucci gown that she said was made with existing materials to be eco-friendly. As usual, many celebrities seemed to ignore the night's theme. Model Gigi Hadid wore a red corseted jumpsuit with a large puffy coat. Singer Gwen Stefani stood out in a full-skirted neon-yellow gown.

The year’s biggest night in fashion, the Met Gala returns to its usual berth on the social calendar this year after pandemic upheaval. And if it feels like one of those what, already moments, it is. It’s been just under eight months since the last gala, an annual fundraiser that raises eight-figure sums for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

Billie Eilish went full glam in a huge peach ball gown at the pandemic-delayed Met Gala on Monday night, while fellow host of the evening Amanda Gorman was breathtaking in cobalt blue custom Vera Wang with a diamond laurel wreath in her hair.

This year’s gala theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” was inspired by a seminal 1964 essay by Susan Sontag in which she describes the phenomenon as something that shan’t be talked about: “To talk about Camp is therefore to betray it.” Wintour, who masterminds the gala every year, wore a light pink cape with loose ostrich feathers over a matching gown adorned in a flower sequin design. She told waiting reporters this year’s theme is anything goes. “I hope they have a lot of fun,” she said of her A-list guests. “The more crazy the better.”