By Tanya Steele
Forget the Met Gala, creating exciting fashion looks can be as easy as a stroll to your local op shop.
Tecoma icon Michelle Trebilco aka the Veteran Vamp – A Thriftilicious Fashionista took the time to dish on the annual fashion storm and to endorse people being creative with their own looks.
“I love it, it’s fabulous, and the theme this year was wonderful,” she said.
The dress code for the Met Gala this year was The Garden of Time, which saw stars dressed in an array of floral frocks, some even opting for multiple outfits in one night.
“The more outrageous the better – my favourite was Zendaya, she looked amazing,” said Ms Trebilco.
“Both her looks were great, but I always enjoy her outfits,” she said.
Accessories themed around timepieces and large floral headpieces abounded and Ms Trebilco was impressed with the diversity.
“I enjoyed a lot of the things the men wore – although some people didn’t fulfil the brief, not quite hitting the garden theme,” she said.
“I personally didn’t like the way Lana Del Ray’s outfit looked as a whole – although I loved the dress and I appreciated the risk she took.”
The Met Gala 2024 is a fundraising benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City that is held every year on the first Monday in May.
The event sees a bevvy of stars, creatives and executives strut their stuff in a mind-boggling fashion furore.
The 2024 event took place on Monday, 6 May and celebrated the Costume Institute’s new exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
The Vamp said that while the Gala is a spectacle from afar the idea of creating on demand for an event like it would be too much.
“I have to wait for the inspiration to come,” she said.
The fashionista has created stunning looks from everything from cat toys to silicone chocolate molds.
“I like playing around with headpieces and creating handbags as well,” she said.
“My favourite was using a water filter – I made a kind of atomic-era style looking bag with a towel ring.”
The Veteran Vamp herself loves to roam the local op shops, putting back into the community with her playful hobby.
Ms Trebilco continues to grow a large social media following as she documents her own fashion adventures and celebration of recycled fashion.
“Anything goes, I’ve used fabric bins as hats and attached spiders as well,” she said.
When asked about anything in her back catalogue that aligns with this year’s theme, Ms Trebilco said she has featured a little something.
“Back in February, I had had the idea for a while, but it took a bit to get together,” she said.
Ms Trebilco started with a plain black dress as a base and and sewed a big green leaf to the bodice and smaller leaves to the hem.
“I like sewing the clothes to make them look different,” she said.
As the spectacle of this year’s Gala fades into the media’s fast-moving landscape, Ms Trebilco will still turn heads as she walks her catwalk in Tecoma when inspiration hits.
She said she encourages people to play with their fashion.
“There are no rules, you can wear something individual – something unique,” she said.
“It’s good fun.”
