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How Many People Get to Go to the Party?
Last year, about 550. But that was a more intimate event for a more intimate show, “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between,” which was devoted to the cultlike Japanese designer who once said her goal with one collection was “not to make clothes.”

By contrast, “Heavenly Bodies” will be the biggest exhibition the Costume Institute has produced — about 58,600 square feet, stretching over three galleries: the Anna Wintour Costume Center and the medieval rooms in the Met on Fifth Avenue, and the Cloisters in far northern Manhattan — and odds are the gala will be equally ambitious.

If I Can Afford a Ticket, Can I Go?
Dream on. Unlike other cultural fund-raisers, like the New York City Ballet gala or the Frick Collection Young Fellows Ball, the Met gala is invitation only, and there is a waiting list. Qualifications for inclusion have to do with buzz and achievement (and beauty), a.k.a. the gospel according to Anna, more than money. Ms. Wintour has final say over every invitation and attendee, which means that even if a company buys a table, it cannot choose everyone who sits at its table: It must clear the guest with her and Vogue and pray for approval.

O.K., You’re Saying I Can’t Go. So Why Should I Care?
It’s reality TV at its most glamorous. See Tom and Gisele being much more perfect than any normal couple could hope to be! Check out Chelsea Clinton kissing Diane von Furstenberg! Watch Tom Ford try not to step on Sarah Jessica Parker’s train! Judge whether you approve of the outfits! (For the best view, tune in to our red carpet slide show, produced in real time as soon as the hosts make their entrance around 6 p.m.)

Content Courtesy  Of New York Times & Nairobi Fashion Hub