These days, young people have a variety of options when it comes to summer camps at both Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills and Governors State University in University Park, and creativity and exploration rank high on the goals for their offerings.

“The best thing is being creative – looking at everything and getting inspiration,” said Tammy Pruitt, instructor of the fashion and sewing summer classes at MVCC. “The thing I like to teach most is when the light bulb goes off and the students see their design and aren’t intimidated.”

This is the second summer MVCC is offering the fashion classes, which were so popular the college added a noncredit session in April this year.

“I have some (students) who are really timid and scared and I have some who are on fire!” Pruitt said of the April class. “They know how to sketch and draw. They are all excited and want to be encouraged.”

Last summer’s fashion classes were “the most enrolled classes,” said Liz Micheletti, program manager, Corporate Community & Continuing Education. “The classroom was full of kids excited to learn.”

She added that Pruitt is a supportive instructor. “I got to jump in the class a few times that Tammy was teaching, and I love how the kids feel open to expressing themselves in the class,” Micheletti said. “The environment Tammy creates is special. They can create different looks, different drawings based on what they like and what they’ve learned in the class. I think that’s so fun.”

Pruitt, a fashion and design instructor, earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion design in 1996 and began teaching classes in 2010 after receiving a master’s degree in education. She has high hopes for the summer classes.

“I hope they get inspired to be themselves and not be afraid to create. And I hope they don’t compare themselves. I think that’s the thing they might do. We do have a couple of 16-year-olds. (The younger kids) see them drawing and just watch,” she explained.

Pruitt said she shows them videos of teen designs. “We want to start young and cultivate their gift so even though they’re young they have skills behind them,” she said, adding that she had a few 8-year-old students in her class, which focused on designing a Croc. “An 8-year-old actually took raman noodles and made a design on the shoe. It’s amazing how young they are and they are already gifted.”

The summer’s four classes, which can be taken by someone as young as 8, include Fashion Designer 1 and 2, which cover basics of fashion design; Learn To Sew, which teaches hand sewing and machine parts; and Sewing, Denim Frenzy, where students learn how to embellish denim and create a denim hoodie.

“I would tell them if your kids are interested in fashion and want to grow in this field to come and take the class,” Pruitt said. “I will tell them it’s fun, exciting and it may be a little challenging for them. But I think it would be well worth it.”

In the basics class, students focus on design vs. making an item. “They have to put together a mood board based on what inspiration they want to do. They learn how to put together a collection so they can get a feel for that,” she said. “I would love for them to make a garment but that takes a lot of skill for them to sew.”

MVCC has a variety of summer classes, including STEM sessions and gatherings focused on role-playing games. Fees apply. The catalog is at moraine-valley-community-college.dcatalog.com/v/Youth-Summer-2024. Information is with the Community Education office at 708-974-5735.

At Governors State, a new camp is on the books this year after students who participated in STEAM and theater camps last summer expressed an interest in music.

“It happened at a great time that Fernando Jones, founder of the Blues Camp experience for kids, approached us and said ‘I’m interested in having a camp at GSU for young musicians,’” said Michelle Sebasco, director of Academic Partnerships and Continuing Education.

Although returning campers up to age 18 can jump in, the camp, set for July 29 through 31, is aimed at students 10 to 16 years old. “Because they’re in junior high and in the early stages of high school, they bond with each other. It’s a good synergy amongst that age group.”

Thus far several students have signed up for evening auditions, including one May 29, for the camp, which is free. Students will be separated into several rooms, depending on whether they are vocalists or play an instrument. Registration and information are at continuinged@govst.edu or 708-534-4099. Those who make it in will receive a code to sign up for the camp.

“What we’re assessing for isn’t that they’re really fantastic musicians for vocalists. What we’re assessing for is that they really have passion for it and really want to try and that they are students who can receive tutoring,” Sebasco said.

The camp’s goal includes social and emotional learning and music literacy,” she said, explaining that it’s structured like a class. “We’re not just up there jamming.” It also aims to have students think about music as a career and to consider music “as a second language.”

The tuition waiver the kids will receive as part of the program is valued at $1,500 to $2,500, she said. “Everything is free for them. It’s a priceless experience. The Blues Camp kids can go all over. They can do some touring with the Blues Camp Kids Foundation, and we’ve had kids who have done things all through the country” and internationally. She added that GSU will provide five guitars for students who don’t have an instrument, and Jones also will bring some instruments.

The camp was created on Chicago’s South Side in 1989, she said. “Fernando Jones is like a walking, talking blues man. He looks like the Chicago-style blues. It’s cool.”

Jones, a faculty member at Columbia College in Chicago and head of the Blues Kids Foundation, will bring six “like-minded musicians” to help the kids learn to play. “He has a whole bank of instructors coming in, and GSU will have six camp counselors available to the children. So there will be 12 adults in the rooms at all times with the children as they play,” Sebasco said.

The camp culminates the afternoon of the third day with a performance for parents and families. “This is a no-stress environment, baby,” she said. “It’s the blues!”

She said the session is ideal for anyone passionate about music. “They can be a beginner, intermediate. They can be advanced. We’re looking for a combination of kids who love music and want to play.”

Other summer camps this summer include a STEAM camp mid-July that still has several scholarship openings left so it would be free, a one-day camp July 11 for young adults 17 to 30 with disabilities, and aviation camp in early August. For information about any of the camps, call the School of Extended Learning at 708-534-4099.

During the aviation camp, students 10 to 16 years old will be guided through aviation-themed activities at Bult Field Airport in Monee. An aviation simulator, parachute kites and drones will be used in the instruction. Fees apply.

GSU began offering a ground school this spring, which puts people on the licensure track with the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as a flight program and drone program. Sebasco said they hope the summer camp will “generate some exposure to potential career tracks within aviation for kids.”

“If they are a kid who is interested in flights, there’s this program,” she explained. “With the retirement of so many pilots, there is a high need for trained pilots and also mechanics, airline mechanics. They’ll see all of it. They’ll get to be exposed to all of the good stuff at an airport.”

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

It was all in fun, but Corden, like many celebrities, is a Met Gal a regular.

Then there are the first-timers. These guests, no matter how famous in their field, often profess a bit of starstruck wonder at the concentration of celebrity around them, and even some nerves, like a kid arriving at a new school.

Work-life balance: Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese walks the Met Gala red carpet after practice Monday

For example: Stray Kids. The K-pop band arrived at their first gala en masse, all eight dressed by designer Tommy Hilfiger in different iterations of red, navy and white. Entering the museum they ascended the grand interior staircase, hit the receiving line, and then headed to cocktails, where, they said, they slowly started to relax.

“We were nervous at first.” said band number Bang Chan. “We didn’t know what to expect, who we would meet,” added bandmate Felix. But they were settling in nicely, and had already spoken to Chris Hemsworth, Steven Yeun, and Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons.

Then there was Ayo Edebiri, star of “The Bear,” who has been a multiple winner on the awards circuit this year but was attending her first gala. She seemed almost out of breath after greeting hosts Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Hemsworth and Anna Wintour at the top of the staircase.

“I’m really, really, really excited to be here,” she said. “This is another really beautiful thing that I will try to do my best to remember.”

Some other memorable moments and scenes from inside the gala:

A magical forest

Though the name of the gala’s accompanying exhibit was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” it wasn’t really about Princess Aurora from our fairytales. Rather, it was about highlighting and illuminating fragile garments from the museum’s collection that were now being “awakened” to the world. Still, it’s safe to say the museum went all in on the fairytale vibe.

Entering the Great Hall, guests passed a huge centerpiece, 32 feet tall, representing a “whimsical tree.” Huge green flowers made of fabric sprouted over a forest-like undergrowth with twisted branches that looked just like the foliage Sleeping Beauty’s prince had to hack through to give her a true love’s kiss. Guests then walked through a live string orchestra and a tableau of performers dressed as woodland creatures — in tunics and tights — frolicking in the forest.

Fashion is art

Given the choice of viewing the exhibit or heading straight to cocktails, most guests chose the latter. But some did head to the show, a multi-sensory fashion experience involving not only sight but sound, smell and touch. Lena Waithe spent time alone inspecting the garments, and said she was “just blown away by the work that I’m seeing.”

The actor/producer added that she, as many, often thinks of fashion as fun and light. “But then I come here and am reminded that it’s an art form,” she said. And she recalled a speech Meryl Streep, as a Wintour-like character, makes to Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada,” about the clothes we wear having been chosen for us. “I think we need to be reminded of that, that our style is influenced by people who are long gone,” Waithe said.

Seth Meyers stays in his lane

Late-night host Meyers, attending the gala with wife, said it was a nice break to get an evening away from childcare. But he also jokingly asked why his little ones — ages 8, 6 and 2 — weren’t invited. “I think it’s very rude that Vogue didn’t invite them,” Meyers quipped. “It’s so kid-friendly here. And they’re so good at keeping their mitts off things.”

Meyers said what he most enjoyed abut the gala was seeing “a lot of people that I’m a fan of, or have interviewed on the show.” But as for fashion, he likes to play it straight, he said: ”Nobody wants a guy like me taking a big swing. I stay in my lane.”

The Broadway crowd

There’s always a strong Broadway contingent at the Met Gala, because Wintour is a huge theater fan. At this gala, Jonathan Groff, fresh off a Tony nomination for “Merrily We Roll Along,” laughed and joked with good friend and fellow “Glee” alum (and “Funny Girl” star) Lea Michele, expecting her second child and resplendent in baby blue Rodarte. Groff reminisced about former Met Galas he’s attended, including one where he performed from the show “Hair,” and another in 2016 where guest Beyoncé had just released “Lemonade” about a week earlier. “That,” he recalled, “was epic.”

‘Little me would be so happy’

A table away sat another Broadway star, J. Harrison Ghee. Last year Ghee attended their first gala, a month or so before winning the Tony for best actor in “Some Like it Hot.” Ghee wore a dramatic feathered look by designer Howie B inspired, they said, by a caddis worm — perfectly in sync with the nature theme of the evening. The night, Ghee said, was proof that fashion was a vital and expressive art. And they added that “Little me would be so happy. I check in with them all the time — would they be proud? They would.”

A dress greater than the sum of its (broken) parts

As Sánchez and Bezos toured the exhibit, her distinctive dress made an equally distinctive noise as it scraped across the floor. “We won’t lose you,” joked Bezos. Sánchez said she had burst into tears when she first tried on the eye-popping design by Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim of Oscar de la Renta. The voluminous skirt had pearl and mirrored appliques and was meant to evoke Tiffany glass. “If you need a mirror just use my dress,” Sánchez quipped. She added that she felt the dress symbolized life — where everything is a bit broken, and it depends on what you do with the pieces. And she was misty-eyed when she described trying the dress on for Bezos: “He told me I had never looked so beautiful,” she said.

Fun fact: Sánchez said Garcia had told her he needed an item to fix the dress, and had ordered it on Amazon.

A clarion call to dinner

How do you get hundreds of chatting celebrities to hike across the museum for dinner? Organizers have tried a number of ways. One year, it was a team of buglers. Another year, Jon Batiste and his melodica led a band snaking through the crowd. Last year, David Byrne did the honors. On Monday it was a huge choir that emerged, singing original music entitled “Future of Us,” accompanied by dancers. Then a bell rang, and the performers called out: “To dinner!” And off the crowd went — slowly — to the Temple of Dendur, where the fairytale motif continued with tables featuring “enchanted candelabras entwined with flower arrangements.”

What’s to eat?

Arriving late is still fashionable; Some guests were still arriving at 9 p.m. and even much later. But for those who made it for dinnertime, here’s what was on the menu: a main course of filet of beef, pea tortellini, morels and spring vegetables, followed by a dessert of petits fours inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale of, yep, “Sleeping Beauty” — along with confections “in the shape of bespoke hats.”

Both are co-chairs of the annual fundraiser at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And both received cheers from the crowd of fashion enthusiasts packed behind barriers outside.

Flowers were everywhere, in line with this year’s theme: “The Garden of Time.” Lopez (in Schiaparelli) was all va-va-voom in a near-naked gown that hugged like a second skin. She’s got the Meta Gala down: It’s her 14th.

This year’s theme is inspired by J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same name.

Zendaya put on her fashion face in hues of blue and green, with a head piece to match and leaf accents.

It’s been five years since Zendaya last attended the Met Gala. Her look, in peacock colors, was by Maison Margiela. Lopez went with Tiffany & Co. diamonds, including a stunning bird motif necklace with a diamond of over 20 carats at its center.

Mindy Kaling is sure to make the best-dressed lists in sand-colored swirls that towered over her head at the back. No worries about dinner. The back was removable. Her look was by Indian couturier Gaurav Gupta.

FASHION KINGS AND QUEENS … AND A GOOD WITCH
Gigi Hadid brought the drama in a look by the drama king himself, Thom Browne. her white look was adorned with 2.8 million microbeads with yellow flowers and green thorns. She was high glam in a wavy bob and crimson lips.

If there’s a queen of the Met Gala besides the evening’s mastermind, Anna Wintour, it’s Sarah Jessica Parker. The long-time attendee takes each year’s theme seriously, researching every detail. This year she was in an Alice in Wonderland dress with a lavender overlay and a Philip Treacy topper on her head. The dress was by Richard Quinn. Her long hair tumbled behind her back in beachy waves, a look that built into a beauty trend of the evening.

Serena Williams took metallic gold to another level in a shining one-shoulder statement look. Ariana Grande was all Glinda the Good Witch, making the most of her pale-colored strapless look with 3D eyelashes at the side of each eye. She arrived with her “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo, dressed in black with pink petals in a darker, edgy look.

Cardi B., who has THE most fun at the Met Gala, struck a pose or three in statement black with a huge tulle train. She paired the look with green jewels and a high black turban. She needed multiple helpers to move her dress up the stairs

CHANNELING SLEEPING BEAUTY AND THE GARDEN
Penelope Cruz, meanwhile, went goth in black by Chanel. It had a bustier top and a Sleeping Beauty-like off-shoulder silhouette. There was another Sleeping Beauty-ish guest: Kendall Jenner in a Givenchy look done by Alexander McQueen in 1999.

Kendall’s sister, Kylie Jenner, was more Old Hollywood than storybook in a chic low-cut strapless look, a white bloom in her clicked-back updo and a train behind. Oddly, older sister Kim Kardashian tightly covered up her gorgeous silver corset look with a leaf motif by Maison Margiela with a lumpy gray sweater.

Dua Lipa was a whole different kind of princess. She went full rock ‘n’ roll in black by Marc Jacobs, who accompanied her.

The princess vibes were in apparent reference to the Met’s spring exhibition that the gala kicks off. It’s called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” While it doesn’t actually have to do with Disney, or even princesses, some of the 400 guests went there.

Demi Moore stuck to the garden in a Harris Reed look with huge wings encircled by arrows and handpainted with pink and white blooms.

Diesel broke through on the gala red carpet on Dove Cameron. It was about as unlike Diesel as it gets, also going for the garden. The look had sleeves attached to her train.

FINDING DEEPER MEANING IN THE THEME
Lily Gladstone went for black by Gabriela Hearst.

“We wanted me to feel draped in the power of my ancestors,” she said. “For Kiowa and Blackfeet, our ancestors are the stars, that’s where we come from. … I feel like it’s so long overdue that we have so much Indigenous representation and this sort of upper echelon world of high luxury fashion, because that is our aesthetic, you know, Natives have always loved luxury.”

FLORAL LOOKS AND A SPECIAL PLUS-1
Colman Domingo donned a white jacket with a cape and extra-wide trousers, holding a bouquet of white calla lilies, while Tyla chose a gown made to look like sand using actual sand on the fabric. She needed help with the hourglass she held as she made her way up the museum stairs. Domingo’s designer was Willy Chavarria.

Sam Smith wore silver and gold metal roses tucked into the waist of a jacket, and Jack Harlow also channeled florals, but subtly with a silver and pearl floral boutonniere.

Wintour wore a black coat adorned with multicolored flowers. Her fellow co-chair Bad Bunny donned all black. A pregnant Lea Michele wore Rodarte, inspired by the brand’s 2012 spring/summer collection.

“I’m honored to be here and bring my baby with me,” Michele said. ”“I don’t think I was allowed a plus one, but I’m bringing” one, she said with a laugh. “I’m so grateful. I feel really beautiful, you know, in this pregnancy.”

Looking to follow along? Here’s a quick primer on what you need to know about the palooza of A-list celebrities from film, fashion, music, sports, politics and social media.

Among those who had way BIG fun with the nature and garden theme was Lana Del Rey. She walked up the museum steps as an actual tree, her face shrouded by fabric held up by her branches.

HOW TO WATCH THE MET GALA
That’s tricky. Vogue has the exclusive livestream, which starts at 6 p.m. Eastern at Vogue.com. The feed will also be available on Vogue’s digital platforms, including TikTok and YouTube.

Tons of other media will be on site, too. Catch the action on E!, also starting at 6 p.m., with livestreams on X, TikTok, Instagram and Peacock.

The Associated Press will be live outside the Mark Hotel, where many celebs get ready before heading to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their walk up the grand staircase. That livestream will begin at 4:45 p.m. Eastern and will be available on YouTube and APNews.com.

Only the event’s stacked red carpet is watchable — the gala’s cocktail hour and dinner are notoriously private events.

WHAT’S THE
POINT OF THE MET GALA?
It’s a party, for sure, with cocktails and dinner for about invited 400 guests, but it’s also a huge fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute, the only department at the museum required to pay for itself. Last year, the gala raised about $22 million. Wintour, a Met trustee for whom part of the institute has been renamed, organizes the whole shebang. No phones are allowed, adding to the allure.

It also promotes the museum’s exhibit, which this year is called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” It includes 250 items from The Costume Institute’s permanent collection, including some garments very rarely seen in public and so fragile they need to be under glass. Curators wanted to engage all the senses, including smell.

The exhibit opens to the public Friday and runs through Sept. 2.

___

Associated Press Writer John Carucci contributed to this story.

Reese — who the Sky traded up to select No. 7 in this year’s WNBA draft — wore Marco Capaldo 16Arlington. The gala doubled as a birthday event for the rookie, who turned 22 on Monday.

And here’s why Angel Reese left Chicago Sky practice a little early today — to make her Met Gala debut (on her 22nd birthday no less!) pic.twitter.com/HVlo7oHaoK

— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) May 6, 2024

This isn’t Reese’s first foray into the fashion world — she has devoted extensive time off the court to modeling, stepped out to her first preseason game sporting Chanel and Balenciaga, and announced her decision to declare for the WNBA draft in Vogue magazine.

The Met Gala is an annual charity event to raise funds for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This year’s gala was themed “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” with a dress code of “The Garden of Time.”

Reese attended a portion of Sky practice in Deerfield on Monday morning before exiting early to hop on a private jet to New York City for the event.

Fellow rookie Kamilla Cardoso took a similarly early exit from Monday’s practice to attend the Indianapolis premiere of the Netflix docu-series “Full Court Press,” which followed Cardoso, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and UCLA’s Kiki Rice throughout the 2023-24 NCAA women’s basketball season. But the Sky announced Monday night that Cardoso will be sidelined for four to six weeks due to a shoulder injury sustained in the May 3 preseason game against Minnesota.

The rookie will return to Chicago in time for Tuesday’s preseason game against the New York Liberty, which will offer the first opportunity for fans to see Reese play in Chicago (and on WNBA League Pass). But this hectic turnaround reflects a new reality for the rising stars of the 2024 WNBA draft class, who face unprecedented levels of fame on the heels of a celebrated collegiate season.

Inside the Met Gala: A fairytale forest, woodland creatures, and some starstuck first-timers

It’s a work-life balance that Sky head coach Teresa Weatherspoon hopes to support throughout the season for rookies and veterans alike.

“There were things that were in place for them that we thought were very important for them to be part of,” Weatherspoon said. “That’s something they earned and that’s never something we’d ever take away.”

Sky minority owner Dwyane Wade also attended the Met Gala event with his wife Gabrielle Union.

The stars of the game wore top fashion labels Monday night that turned the draft into a mini-Oscars where style was front and center along with the picks.

Caitlin Clark. Cameron Brink. Kamilla Cardoso. Angel Reese.

They all stepped onto the stage and met the challenge essentially every woman can identify with: Overcoming the trepidation of finding just the right outfit for that special occasion.

“There’s never been a bigger spotlight on women’s basketball, thanks in large part to players like Caitlin Clark and coaches like Dawn Staley,” Rose Minutaglio, ELLE senior editor of features and special projects, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Usually, when a woman finds what she wants, it’s not a question of whether alterations are needed, but how much. The taller the woman, the bigger the challenge can be.

These tall ladies appeared to pass the test.

It was the perfect time for a fashionable splash just like NFL and NBA players do on their draft nights. Last year, Taylor Hendricks of UCF wore a pink suit with the jacket lined with photos representing his journey to the NBA and the people who meant the most to him.

“With more eyes on the league, players recognize the opportunity to showcase their personalities through their style,” Minutaglio said. “Because of glaring pay discrepancies, fashion partnerships and brand sponsorships will continue to play a big role for female athletes.”

Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks’ victory over Clark and Iowa in the women’s national championship game outdrew the men in television ratings, and this is shaping up to be the WNBA’s most-watched draft.

The 6-foot Clark was joined in New York by the 6-7 Cardoso, 6-4 Brink and 6-3 Reese, among others. They’ve been busy since the NCAA Tournament, too, especially Clark, who made a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

Clark went with a white jacket and skirt with a sparkly cut-off top, sunglasses and black heels. She credited having people help her prepare keeping it less stressful.

“The first time Prada has ever dressed a male or female for WNBA or NBA draft so pretty cool,” Clark said during the WNBA’s livestream from its orange carpet.

Brink and Reese wore outfits that wouldn’t be out of place during Fashion Week or a red carpet in Hollywood. Brink wore a diagonal black and white dress showing off both shoulders with a slit exposing her right leg.

Reese shimmered in a hooded, backless gray dress with a plunging neckline after a late wardrobe change with help from designers Bronx and Banco, Simon Miller and Christian Louboutin.

“I got this two days ago,” Reese said. “My original dress didn’t fit.”

WNBA draft: Chicago Sky go big with South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso and LSU’s Angel Reese in 1st round

Rickea Jackson of Tennessee made a wardrobe change between the orange carpet and the draft itself before being selected fourth overall by the Los Angeles Sparks.

“They’re just going to be falling in love with my personality,” Jackson said of Sparks’ fans.

Alissa Pili, the eighth pick by Minnesota, worked with a designer to pay tribute to her Alaska Native heritage in the black and gold pattern of her dress.

Most of these glam looks didn’t come off the rack.

Being tall is an advantage and not a hindrance for WNBA players. Models who grace the runways during fashion week and the covers of fashion magazines often stand at least 6 feet and taller.

The league’s own growing popularity in recent years also has helped.

“Players are also starting to work directly with designers, who help outfit them, and stylists, who focus on game-day drip,” Minutaglio wrote.

This was only the second WNBA draft with fans in attendance, and 1,000 tickets sold out in February for the event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Fans got to attend the 2016 draft at the Mohegan Sun when former UConn All-American Breanna Stewart was the top pick.

Shakira Austin, the third overall pick in 2022 by the Washington Mystics, understands the angst Clark and others faced. While the 6-5 center was playing in college at Mississippi, Austin was forced to be creative as she struggled to find pants that fit or any clothing that captured her style.

So she got busy with a sewing machine and became her own designer. Now that Austin is in the pros, she’s a fashionista tapping into her creativity, doing more than just pants, leggings and shirts. Austin told the AP earlier this year that it’s a great time to dive into both modeling and clothing design.

On her way to becoming the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, Clark was surprised by designer Kristin Juszczyk, whose husband, Kyle, plays for NFC champion San Francisco in the NFL. She created a puffer vest with Clark’s No. 22 in Iowa black and gold, putting the player in select company with the likes of pop superstar Taylor Swift.

Minutaglio said several brands work with female athletes, with Glossier and SKIMS teaming up with the WNBA specifically. She noted sports brands like Puma, Adidas and Nike all work with women in basketball.

“What’s interesting is we’re seeing players and teams branch out into high-fashion, wearing Dior and Louis Vuitton and Gucci,” Minutaglio said.

Staley herself was decked out on the sideline of the title game in Louis Vuitton, from her silver jacket down to her sneakers, grabbing attention for her look far beyond the sports pages. Minutaglio noted New York-based women’s wear brand M.M. LaFleur has a multiyear deal with the New York Liberty.

“I wrote a story for ELLE in 2022 predicting the rise of WNBA game-day fashion, and since then, the looks just keep getting better and better,” Minutaglio wrote. “The fashion set is excited to see where it goes from here.”

___

AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.

But Andrew Bolton, the curatorial mastermind behind the blockbuster fashion exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, begs to differ. His newest show, to be launched by the starry Met Gala next month, seeks to provide a multi-sensory experience, engaging not just the eyes but the nose, the ears — and even the fingertips, a traditional no-no in a museum.

Open to the public beginning May 10, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” features 250 items that are being revived from years of slumber in the institute’s vast archive, with some in such a delicate state of demise that they can’t be draped on a mannequin or shown upright. These garments will lie in glass coffins — yes, like Sleeping Beauty herself.

As ever, celebrity guests at the May 6 gala, which this year is being hosted by Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny and Chris Hemsworth, will get the first look at the exhibit. With a dress code defined as “The Garden of Time,” one can expect lots of creative, garden-themed riffs. But will anyone go so far as to actually wear a living garden? As he began mounting the exhibit late last week, Bolton shared that there’s just such a garment in the show, a coat that has been planted with oat, rye and wheatgrass.

The garment, designed by Jonathan Anderson of the label LOEWE (a sponsor of the show), is currently “growing” right now in a tent at the museum, with its own irrigation system. It will be displayed in all its green glory for the first week, after which it will be replaced with a version, also grown for the show, that has dried out. As the museum puts it, the coat “will grow and die over the course of the exhibition.”

“Sleeping Beauties” will be organized around themes of earth, air and water — but also, Bolton says, around the various senses. The garden gallery where the coat will be displayed is one of four areas devoted to the sense of smell.

This means viewers will be able to sample scents connected to various garments. But it doesn’t mean that a floral gown, for example, will be accompanied by a floral scent. The reality is much more complex.

“What we’re really presenting is the olfactory history of the garment,” Bolton says. “And that’s the scent of the person who wore it, the natural body odors that they emitted, what they smoked, what they ate, where they lived.” For these galleries, the museum worked with Norwegian “smell artist” Sissel Tolaas, who took 57 “molecular readings” of garments, all to create scents that will waft through the rooms and enhance the visitor’s connection to the items on display.

But garments also create sound. Especially if the garment is embroidered, as is one famous gown by the late Alexander McQueen, with dried and bleached razor clams.

Because the original dress would be too fragile to now record the sounds it makes in movement, curators made a duplicate — with the same kind of razor clams that McQueen collected from a beach in Norfolk, England — and then isolated and recorded the sound in an echo-free chamber at Binghamton University. The effect, Bolton says, is “to capture the minutiae of movements.”

The same effect is achieved with a silk taffeta garment, featuring a sound called “scroop,” a combination of the words “scrape” and “whoop.“

“I know it sounds like a garage band,” quips Bolton, “but it’s a specific sound that silk makes.” It can be loud or soft, depending on the finishing of the silk. Taffeta has the loudest, so that’s what visitors will hear in one particular gallery.

And then there is touch.

“It’s one of the difficulties of museums, that you can’t touch things,” the curator says. The exhibit aims to change that, too. An example: an embroidered 17th-century Jacobean bodice. No, you can’t handle such a fragile thing. But with the help of 3D scanning, curators have recreated the embroidery on wallpaper. “The whole room will be covered with this wallpaper,” Bolton says. “You can use your hands to feel the shapes and the complexity of the embroidery.” The same technique will be used to experience the feel of a Dior dress.

Even with the plain old sense of sight, the exhibit aims to enhance the viewing experience with accompanying animations featuring details of the garment one cannot see with the naked eye — rather like looking through a microscope.

For what Bolton says is one of the most ambitious shows the Costume Institute has attempted, he went through the museum’s entire archive of 33,000 garments and accessories to choose the ultimate 250.

He hopes the various new technologies will became a norm, and that the institute will be able to build a database of the sounds and smells of some garments before they enter the collection — capturing them in living form, in their “last gasp” of life before they become museum pieces. Perhaps one day to lie in a glass coffin, like Sleeping Beauty.

“Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” will run May 10-Sept. 2, 2024.

Scattered demonstrations were held in the vicinity around the Oscars on Sunday. Los Angeles police, which had expected protests, beefed up their already extensive presence. The Dolby Theatre and the red carpet leading into it are cordoned off for several blocks in every direction.

But protesters carrying signs and chanting for ceasefire disrupted traffic near security checkpoints on Sunset Blvd. Some arrivals were slowed by as much as an hour. Some protesters shouted “Shame!” at those trying to reach the Oscars. Police in helmets and wielding batons declared an unlawful assembly and threatened arrest.

Several attendees, including Billie Eilish and Finneas, best song nominees for “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” wore pins for Gaza. Ava DuVernay and Ramy Youssef were also among those wearing pins.

The Oscars, kicking off on ABC at 6 p.m. Central Sunday, are springing forward an hour earlier than usual due to daylight saving time. But aside from the time shift, this year’s show is going for many tried-and-true Academy Awards traditions. Jimmy Kimmel is back as host. Past winners are flocking back as presenters. And a big studio epic is poised for a major awards haul.

“Oppenheimer,” the blockbuster biopic, is widely expected to overpower all competition — including its release-date companion, “Barbie” — at an election-year Oscars that could turn into a coronation for Christopher Nolan.

Still, much is circling around this year’s show. Aside from the Israel-Hamas war, the war in Ukraine will be on some attendees’ minds, particularly those of the journalist filmmakers behind the documentary favorite, “20 Days in Mariupol.”

“Our hearts are in Ukraine,” said Mstyslav Chernov, the Ukrainian filmmaker and AP journalist who directed “20 Days in Mariupol.”

And with the presidential election in full swing, politics could be an unavoidable topic despite an awards season that’s played out largely in a vacuum.

Hollywood also has plenty of its own storm clouds to concern itself with.

The 2023 movie year was defined by a prolonged strike over the future of an industry that’s reckoning with the onset of streaming, artificial intelligence and shifting moviegoer tastes that have tested even the most bankable brands. The academy, while also widely nominating films like “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things,” embraced both “Oppenheimer,” the lead nominee with 13 nods, and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” the year’s biggest hit with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales and eight nominations.

The show will be available to stream via ABC.com and the ABC app with a cable subscription. You can also watch through services including Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV.

Five past winners in each acting category will together announce winners for the first time since 2009. Among the many announced presenters are: Zendaya, Al Pacino, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh, Steven Spielberg, Dwayne Johnson, Matthew McConaughey, Lupita Nyong’o, Mahershala Ali, Nicolas Cage and Bad Bunny.

All of the best original song nominees will be performed, including the most likely winner, “What Was I Made For” from “Barbie,” to be performed by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell. The others are: “I’m Just Ken,” with Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson; “The Fire Inside,” from “Flamin’ Hot,” to be performed by Becky G; Jon Batiste’s “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”; and “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” to be performed by Scott George and the Osage Singers.

“Oppenheimer” comes in having won at the producers, directors and actors guilds, making it the clear front-runner for best picture. The film is widely expected to win in a number of other categories, too. Nolan is tipped to win his first best director Oscar, while Robert Downey Jr. (best supporting actor) and Cillian Murphy (best actor) are also predicted to win their first Academy Award. Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) could challenge Murphy.

With the forecasted “Oppenheimer” romp, the night’s biggest drama is in the best actress category. Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) and Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) are nearly even-odds to win. While an Oscar for Stone, who won for her performance “La La Land,” would be her second statuette, an win for Gladstone would make Academy Awards history. No Native American has ever won a competitive Oscar.

While “Barbie” bested (and helped lift) “Oppenheimer” at the box office, it appears likely it will take a back seat to Nolan’s film at the Oscars. Gerwig was notably overlooked for best director, sparking an outcry that some, even Hillary Clinton, said mimicked the patriarchy parodied in the film.

In supporting actress, Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been a lock all season for her performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers.”

Composer John Williams, 92, is expected to attend the ceremony where he’s nominated for the 49th time for best score, for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ” Meanwhile Godzilla is going to the Oscars for the first time, with “Godzilla Minus One” notching a nomination for best visual effects.

Also for the first time, two non-English language films are up for best picture: the German-language Auschwitz drama “The Zone of Interest” and the French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall.” “The Zone of Interest” is the heavy favorite to win best international film.

Historically, having big movies in the mix for the Oscars’ top awards has been good for broadcast ratings. The Academy Awards’ largest audience ever came when James Cameron’s “Titanic” swept the 1998 Oscars.

Last year’s ceremony, where a very different best-picture contender in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed, was watched by 18.7 million people, up 12% from the year prior. ABC and the academy are hoping to continue the upward trend after a nadir in 2021, when 9.85 million watched a pandemic-diminished telecast relocated to Los Angeles’ Union Station.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The night before the Oscars isn’t a time to rest in Hollywood. For quite a few nominees, including “Barbie” star Margot Robbie, it meant a stop at the historic Beverly Hills Hotel for the 15th annual Chanel and Charles Finch pre-Oscar dinner.

Robbie was in very good company, with other Oscar nominees including best supporting actress frontrunner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, as well as America Ferrera, Sandra Hüller, Justine Triet, Cord Jefferson, Jonathan Glazer and Celine Song, who all are expected at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday evening.

They packed into the picturesque patio of the storied Polo Lounge for cocktails before the private dinner on a clear, chilly night in Beverly Hills. Robert De Niro was among the earliest arrivals, but within no time the space was full of stars.

Kristen Stewart and her finance Dylan Meyer chatted with Daniel Kaluuya near a well-placed heat lamp, while Chloë Sevigny surveyed the room a few feet away. Elsewhere Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann found an elusive seat to sip their drinks, though Apatow leapt to his feet when JR came around to say hello.

Triet and her “Anatomy of a Fall” star Hüller stayed close together, John Mulaney and Olivia Munn conversed with David O. Russell, while Adrien Brody and Patrick Dempsey chatted in another corner and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos made the rounds.

Others in the crowd included Usher (a self-proclaimed “Oppenheimer” fan who also was wearing chaps), Ava DuVernay, Michael Keaton, Molly Sims, Maya Rudolph, Tessa Thompson, James Marsden, Kerry Washington, Rebecca Hall and Dominic Sessa

The event started somewhat humbly. Finch said 30 years ago he started hosting it because his friends “didn’t have anywhere to go the night before the Oscars.” It evolved to be one of the hottest tickets in town and 15 years ago Chanel joined as a partner, bringing in even more star power with brand ambassadors like Stewart, Robbie, Lily-Rose Depp and Phoebe Tonkin.

“I’m terrified of giving dinners,” Finch said. “I seem like I’m really social, and I do it, but actually, it makes me really nervous.”

Robbie, Oscar-nominated as a producer on “Barbie,” was in good spirits before the big day. In addition to her red carpet looks, she utilized Chanel in the film too, with clothes, accessories and bags for her “stereotypical Barbie.”

“It just kind of serviced the moment and the story so it never felt forced or out of place. It felt very Barbie,” Robbie said. “We got to also recreate some looks I love, one worn by Claudia Schiffer, who’s just a great reference for Barbie in general. It was really fun.”

She also said she’s looking forward to cheering on Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling, who are both performing nominated original songs live on the show Sunday, which begins an hour earlier than usual at 7 p.m. EDT.

“I’m so excited,” Robbie said. “I think it’s going to be amazing.”

Demand for the grocery store chain’s new canvas mini totes caused Stanley Cup-level mania over the weekend, according to social media posts showing crowds gathered around a display. In one video, shoppers are shown with carts filled with nothing but the mini tote.

Nothing says peak consumerism like buying a new “It” bag to fill with more things to buy, but the mini tote’s size—about 13 inches long, by 11 inches tall, by 6 inches wide—is especially well-suited to Trader Joe’s shoppers’ habits. Most Trader Joe’s shoppers purchase 10 items or less per visit, according to data from Numerator, an analytics firm. For scale, the bag can comfortably fit a banana standing right-side up.

Many T.J.’s fans just think they’re cute, though. “Do I need one? No. Will I still buy one? Yes,” wrote one user on the Trader Joe’s subreddit. “No one needs more tote bags, but I am very tempted to grab one and not all of them,” wrote another.

The global reusable-bag market size is growing, according to Business Research Insights, and in the U.S., that’s thanks in part to plastic-bag bans. Eight states ban single-use plastic bags, a National Conference of State Legislatures tally found, and cities including New York and Washington, D.C. charge fees for their use. Aside from Ikea’s big, blue 99-cent Frakta bag, though, it’s rare for a reusable bag to inspire any sort of cult following.

Made from the same material as Trader Joe’s classic canvas totes, the mini totes come in blue, green, red, and yellow accents and retail for just $2.99. Sellers are now hawking them on eBay for $10 or more. Trader Joe’s did not respond to a request for comment.

Fast Company © 2024 Mansueto Ventures, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.