NEW YORK

 Well, hello first Monday in May.

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. Pre-pandemic, about 600 A-listers from fashion, sports, music, film, TV, technology, and beyond were invited. This year and last, the numbers were closer to 400. The 2020 gala was canceled.

More than $16.4 million was raised last year. The starry event is the institute’s primary budget feeder.

This year’s gala coincides with the opening of the second part of a two-part exhibit at the Costume Institute focused on American fashion and style. The evening’s dress code is gilded glamour and white tie, a la the Gilded Age, that tumultuous period between the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century known for its robber barons, drama, and grandeur.