Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney Calls for 'Equal Rights for Women' with Suffragette-Themed Met Gala Dress

Carolyn Maloney at the 2021 Met Gala.Photo: Cindy Ord/MG21/Getty

New York Rep.Carolyn Maloneymade a bold statement on the2021 Met Galared carpet Monday, donning a floor-length gown displaying the colors of the suffragette movement (purple, white and gold) along with sashes embroidered with the words “equal rights for women.”

The congresswoman explained the thought behind her ensemble for Monday night’s event,writingon Twitter that she has “long used fashion as a force 4 change.”

“As the Met Costume Institute reopens w/ their inaugural exhibit celebrating American designers, I am calling 4 the certification of the ERA so women can be equal once and for all,” Maloney wrote.

Carolyn Maloney.Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

In her tweet, Maloney included a photo of herself in the dress posing in front of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument in Central Park.

Maloney has raised eyebrows with past looks worn to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, such as in 2019, when she wore a firefighter jacket to tout hersupport of a billto compensate the victims and families of the 9/11 attacks.

Her clothing statementshave also drawn criticism, as in 2001 when she delivered a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives while wearing a burqa.

“It’s an expensive, heavy, cumbersome garment which covers the entire body. And it includes a mesh panel covering the eyes,” Maloney said in that speech, in which she argued in favor of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and attempted to draw attention to the Taliban’s harsh treatment of women.

Carolyn Maloney.Kevin Mazur/MG21/Getty

Maloney wasn’t the only member of Congress to send a political message with her fashion at this year’s Met Gala (an annual event that was canceled last year due toCOVID-19).

The Democratic congresswoman, 31, told reporters that the gown was “really about having a real conversation.”

“It’s about fairness and equity in our system and I think that this conversation is particularly relevant,” Ocasio-Cortez said of the inspiration behind the statement.

Of the backlash she inevitably faced from some, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters, “I think I’m kind of at the point where no matter what I do, if I wake up in the morning, there’s going to be someone who has something to say about that. So at the very least, what we should do is act in our integrity and do things with intention and purpose.”

TheMetropolitan Museum of Art confirmed in Aprilthat the annual fashion fête would be back in 2021 and would include two parts.

Part one, titled In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, will debut on Sept. 18, 2021 and run through Sept. 5, 2022 to “celebrate The Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary and explore a modern vocabulary of American fashion,” according to a release.

source: people.com