Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, has been presiding over the Met Gala since 1995, which was once described as “the Super Bowl of fashion” by her former friend and colleague André Leon Talley. It’s not only one of the most coveted of invites on the celebrity calendar but a fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Tickets cost $35,000 (or up to $300,000 for a table) – a far cry from the discreet WASPy event, established by publicist and founder of New York Fashion Week Eleanor Lambert in 1948, when tickets cost a mere $50.

Now the event’s themes are important and relate to concurrent exhibitions at the Costume Institute at The Met. The first-ever theme was “The World of Balenciaga” in 1973, and since then themes and exhibitions have included “China: Through The Looking Glass” (the subject of the documentary The First Monday in May), “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”, “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” and “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons”. Each of the former has provided the paparazzi with eye-popping outfits – from Rihanna’s Guo Pei “eye yoke” dress, to Madonna’s breast- and buttock-baring ensemble by Givenchy and Kendall Jenner’s see-through crystal-encrusted dress, also by Givenchy.

I have high hopes of this year’s dress code: “Gilded Glamour and White Tie”, which accompanies the second part of the Costume Institute’s exhibition: “In America: An Anthology of Fashion”, curated by Andrew Bolton. Not only does it draw inspiration from the 30-year period in American history from 1860 – 1896 but also the HBO Max series The Gilded Age, created by Julian Fellowes about the turn-of-the-century era. It was a time of enormous wealth, documented by writers such as Edith Wharton and Henry James, when famous family dynasties such as Frick, Astor, Carnegie, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt ruled industry and society.

Possibly some invitees will arrive in period costume; a sartorial history of the era reveals that fashion was maximalist with lace, crystal and feather trimmings – all of which Irish designer Sorcha O’Raghallaigh does so well: she has dressed Beyonce, Kylie and Madonna.

Bridgerton-style bustiers and corsets were also in vogue, as were romantic tea gowns, bustles, big sleeves and a celebration of colour and shape, especially seen in some crazy hats – according to Dr Kate Strasdin, fashion historian and curator, rather like Irish costume designer Consolata Boyle’s creations for films Chéri starring Michelle Pfeiffer as Léa de Lonval.

To be really authentic – designers of the Gilded Age included couturiers Charles Worth, Jacques Doucet, Paul Poiret and Jean Paquin. I suspect that some guests may wear vintage; there are plenty of fabulous vintage stores in Manhattan including the high end New York Vintage Inc for couture and Pilgrim New York, though William Vintage in London and The Way We Wore in LA has the sort of rare pieces celebrities require.

I also suspect there will be a lot of the colour gold (and fabulous jewellery) to the fore but you never know. I am prepared to put money on Harris Reed creating some show-stopping looks as well as American design stalwarts Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford and Vera Wang enjoying this theme enormously.

This week Sarah Jessica Parker seemed to take a swipe at attendees who didn’t do due diligence when sourcing an outfit: “All I ever think about is the theme and influence. Wherever I go to the Met, I don’t understand how everyone else didn’t spend seven to ten months working on it,” she said.

In Anna, by Amy Odell – the official biography of Anna Wintour, published on May 5 by Simon & Schuster, we gain some fascinating insights, not only of Wintour’s character (apparently she is shy) but also her micromanagement of the Met Gala. Wintour approves not only every single guest but also what and who they are wearing. As she waits at the top of Met’s stairs to receive her guests (apparently she stands next to a floral arrangement by event planner Raul Avila) Wintour constantly asks staff where the guests are. “Every guest will have a prearranged arrival time,” writes Odell in an excerpt from the book in Time magazine, “and Wintour’s people know what cars they’ll arrive in, if they’ve left the house, what they’ll be wearing, and if they’ve broken a zipper along the way that needs to be fixed.”

As for who is attending this year, of the 400 chosen guests, we do know that Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Regina King and Lin-Manuel will be in attendance, as they are co-chairing the event, alongside Wintour and Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram (official sponsors of the exhibition and party). Meanwhile directors Janicza Bravo, Sofia Coppola, Julie Dash, Tom Ford, Martin Scorcsese, Autumn de Wilde and Chloe Zhao will be creating cinematic vignettes in different rooms of the Met.

As this is New York, the event starts early. Guests officially begin arriving at 5.30pm to 8pm. Once they have greeted Wintour, they proceed to the exhibition for some culture and cocktails before dinner, where entertainment in the past has ranged from Cher to Justin Beiber. Strict rules are adhered to – phones and selfies are banned, and other no no’s for caterers include a ban on bruschettas, parsley, garlic and onion. Red wine is always a bit of a hazard at parties, as Karlie Kloss found out in 2016, when she sloshed it over her white Brandon Maxwell gown. Fortunately the designer was on hand and whipped out some scissors to slice it into a mini dress. (My takeaway; never travel without scissors in your clutch bag).

Yet for or all the fashion and risqué red carpet looks (which are invariably becoming more woke and political), is the Met Gala fun? Though she has since done some damage control, Gwyneth Paltrow said she’d never again go to the Met Gala after the 2013 event. Paltrow admitted to an Australian radio show, “It was so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all.”

That’s some consolation for those left on the side lines or viewing it on vogue.com, where Vanessa Hudgens and La La Anthony will be hosting the Met Gala live stream with Vogue editor-at-large Hamish Bowles on May 2.

Like many events, it’s the after parties which are the most enjoyable, and often necessitate further costume changes. If I were in New York on Monday night, I’d be heading to the Upper East Side institution of The Carlyle, the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel, Davide Restaurant or The Mark Hotel, for a ringside seat of the action.