Melissa Rivers Brutally Reveals Why the Met Gala Needs Fashion Critics

Melissa Rivers thinks this year’s Met Gala dress code — “Tailored for You” — was hard for the ladies.

via: Daily Mail

On May 13, NBC is airing Joan Rivers: A Dead Funny All-Star Tribute, a comedy special that was taped at the Apollo Theater in Harlem last November during the 20th annual New York Comedy Festival.

The show features some of the most famous stand-up comics, including Chelsea Handler, Nikki Glaser, Tiffany Haddish, Aubrey Plaza, and Rita Wilson, all highlighting Joan's epic, groundbreaking comedy.

Ahead of the special, Melissa, 57, dropped by the DailyMail.com office to talk about why the Fashion Police could never happen today, what she really thought about this year's Met Gala ensembles, and why fashion is simply not that serious.

On Monday, celebrities hit the carpet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for the annual Met Gala and leaned into the theme, which was Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, which explored Black dandyism from the 18th century to its revival during the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on fashion today.

The dress code was Tailored For You, which was a nod to menswear and suiting as seen in the exhibit at the Met. Viewers at home called the outfits 'underwhelming' and 'boring,' with many A-listers opting for basic black and white ensembles.

But Melissa loved the theme and said 'it's time that we had a men's lead in the theme,' especially since 'everything comes down to good tailoring.'

While the red carpet expert appreciated that 'the men did a great job,' Melissa also thought the theme 'was very confusing for the women, and a lot of the women looked like they could be looking great on any red carpet.'

The New York City-born producer appreciated that Tracee Ellis Ross, Janelle Monae, and Mindy Kaling all 'took the theme, got the memo and took it to the next level because it is the Met Gala,' but was disappointed in some of the other ensembles.

'Zendaya wore a spectacular white suit,' Melissa complimented, but said it could be 'a spectacular white suit on any red carpet,' because it 'didn't have the Met spin.'

The star clarified she wasn't 'picking on Zendaya because she did nothing wrong,' adding that the Euphoria star 'is annoyingly perfect between the talent and the body and the looks and the styling,' joking 'it's aggravating at this point.'

Melissa believes many of the female attendees did not make their looks Met Gala-worthy because of 'confusion' around the 'tailoring and suiting,' as well as how to 'elevate it.'

While many fashion critics are attacked and even canceled for honestly critiquing looks, Melissa thinks the Met Gala 'is the one red carpet left where you can really give an opinion because it's meant to be over the top.'

'You are not going to see anything on the steps of the Met Gala that you will ever wear in your life.'

'It's a night of creativity and looking at fashion as art,' Melissa said.

On The Fashion Police on E! which ran for 14 season, Melissa and her mom were never afraid to voice their opinions about what people wore - sometimes savagely - but today, journalists and critics are often attacked for sharing negative views about celebrities.

Melissa, who has been open about what her mother would think about cancel culture, told DailyMail.com that 'there could never be a Fashion Police again' because 'everyone's too scared.'

Melissa and her iconic mother's approach to the wildly popular show was publicly saying what people would be telling their friends on the couch while watching red carpet coverage.

'Now we're in a place where everyone has to love it,' Melissa explained, adding that if they don't like an outfit, they have to go above and beyond to clarify they still like the actress or the designer so they don't offend anyone.

In the end, Melissa said, 'We're talking about something very shallow. We're talking about fashion and yes, people do sartorial messaging and things like that, but we're talking about art.'

Melissa summed it up: 'Art is meant to be critiqued, not personal.'