How Amelia Gray Got Ready for Her Met Gala Debut – “I Feel Like It's My Wedding!”

May 7, 2024

Amelia GrayHamlin gets ready for the Met Gala

Amelia Gray is taking fashion by storm; from the runway to the iconic 2024 Met Gala steps. On May 6, the 22-year-old model made her Met Gala debut wearing a 3D terrarium dress by Undercover.

“I feel like it's my wedding!” she told Teen Vogue as she got ready for the event. “I think the only thing that I could relate this to is probably the feeling I had before the Balenciaga Mud show, which was one of my first shows … I'm really excited. I'm really nervous, but I'm mainly excited and really grateful.”

Ahead, Amelia Gray gave us an exclusive look behind-the-scenes at the Carlyle in New York City to see everything that went into prep for the "The Garden of Time,” dress code. Up first? The makeup, using all Pat McGrath.

Amelia GrayHamlin getting ready for the Met Gala

“I'm actually quite strict when it comes to pre-runway or pre-red carpet prep,” she begins. “I take my job very seriously. Some might say too seriously, I'm not sure, but it's almost like the Olympics. I prep myself as though I'm this Olympian getting ready for this big sport and I'm super healthy. The couple days before, no alcohol, lots of water, lots of sleeps, sleep is number one. Last night I had a good nine hours, which was major, and I just surround myself with good people, good vibes, good energy.”

And what's on the playlist? Lana Del Rey, of course. “I'm just really trying to focus on being present and in the moment and having a good time," Gray says. “I feel like a lot of people get so nervous that they forget what's happening and this is just such a big dream of mine that I just really want to enjoy and soak in every single second."

For the outfit she opted for a mix of both the theme, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, and the dress code. The look was by the brand Undercover, and it featured live plants inside the skirt. “The dress is the theme, I'm literally wearing a garden in a dress and then I'm doing my own take on Belle. The dress is a sort of modern day replica of Belle," she says.

After seeing her walk in some of the most talked about fashion shows around the world, it'd be safe to assume that the Met steps are just another day on the job. Not the case, Gray says. “Someone wake me up from this dream because what is going on? Not only am I going to the Met Gala, but I'm wearing the dress?”

“I wish my mom could be in this room, but I'm going to call her when I'm in my dress,” she admits. “It's almost like a graduation. All my friends are texting me congratulations. I feel like I'm graduating from model school.”

So what's harder: the runway, or the Met Gala steps? “Right now the Met Gala steps, because that's on TV, and I don't know about you, but every year other than this, I've watched,” she says.
“Three years ago, I drove to my friend's apartment on the Upper East Side that's directly across from the Met Museum. And you better believe us girls sat there with binoculars and we're watching the sprinter vans as people got out. So just knowing that there's other little girls like I once was watching this and then watching me, it's just wild and such a dream.”

Watch the full get ready with me video below: