Pamela Anderson's Met Gala gown inspired by her home on ...

It’s called “fashion’s biggest night” for a reason.

The Met Gala, an annual fundraising (and star gazing) night held in support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, is an invite-only event that draws some of the biggest stars in fashion, music, film and more.

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This year’s dress code centred around The Garden of Time. Inspired by the short story of the same name by J.G. Ballard, the theme is a nod to the exhibition Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.

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B.C.’s own Pamela Anderson attended the event on Monday for the first time.

Canadian-US actress Pamela Anderson arrives for the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2024, in New York. The Gala raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Photo by ANGELA WEISS /AFP via Getty Images

The Ladysmith resident, who has been causing a stir in fashion circles thanks to her self-styled and makeup-free looks, told The New York Times she never imagined she’d see her name added to the coveted invite list.

“I feel like everything has led me to this pinnacle moment where I get to be at the Met, being respected and accepted by Anna Wintour,” Anderson told fashion writer Vanessa Friedman.

The former Baywatch star walked the Met Gala “runway” wearing a gown by Oscar de la Renta. Designed to make the star look (and maybe feel?) like a “fairy in a forest,” according to the fashion brand’s co-creative director Fernando Garcia, the blushing-beige chiffon gown was said to be inspired by Anderson’s home on Vancouver Island.

Canadian-US actress Pamela Anderson arrives for the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2024, in New York. The Gala raises money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Photo by Aliah Anderson /Getty Images

Purchased by her grandparents in the 1950s, the seaside acreage is surrounded by forest. That very forest served as the inspiration for the “fairy in a forest” idea, designed to be a “nymphlike dress,” according to Friedman, slipped on in the morning before a “romp” in the woods.

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Anderson styled her blond hair in an updo with a headpiece meant to look like sprigs of dried grass. Natural glam makeup done by celebrity artist Pat McGrath added to the look, along with dazzling strands of bespoke lab-grown diamonds from Pandora.

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Draped across her collarbone and down her back, a nod to raindrops (how very B.C.), the sparkling white-and-pink diamond adornment totalling nearly 200 carats was created specially for Anderson’s Met Gala debut.

Canadian-American actor Pamela Anderson arrives for the 2024 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2024, in New York. Photo by ANGELA WEISS /AFP via Getty Images

“I’m in a very freeing space right now where I have the opportunity to enjoy beauty and fashion, on my own terms,” Anderson, an ambassador for the brand, said. “To be adorned in diamonds is opulent. And for these diamonds to be produced sustainably, it is innovative and exciting. So I get the best of both worlds.”

In honour of Anderson’s Met Gala debut, Pandora has released two, limited-edition pink diamond necklaces, each featuring a one-carat fancy pink diamond. Available exclusively in North America in select stores and online retailing for $2,800, the pendant necklaces are set in 14-karat white gold.

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In other Met Gala news …

Met Gala fans were disappointed to discover that B.C. star Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively — who is often referred to as the Queen of the Met Gala — were absent from the event for the second year in a row.

Lively last attended the Met Gala in 2022 when she was a co-chair of the event. According to ELLE, the A-list couple decided to skip the fashionable affair to spend the night at home.

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