‘Fashion Police’ Star Melissa Rivers Shares Unwritten Rules Of The Met Gala Red Carpet

The first Monday in May has arrived which can only mean one thing — everyone who’s anyone in the fashion world will descend upon New York City for the 71st annual Met Gala. Cameras aren’t permitted to capture the magic beyond the red carpet, which is part of the event’s allure.

Thousands will tune in to live streams in the hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite fashion-forward celebrities on the red carpet before they head in to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Those of us neither fortunate nor fashionable enough to have been invited will just have to wait for E!’s “Fashion Police” to break down the event on Tuesday, May 2, at 8 p.m. EST.

Melissa Rivers, who took over her mother Joan Rivers’ fulltime spot on the cast in 2015 following her death, says the Met Gala is something she and her co-stars look forward to year after year. She describes fashion’s biggest night as “a steroided red carpet,” telling International Business Times there’s a certain headspace required to cover the event.

“The trains are longer, it delves more into costume rather than gown,” she told IBT. “You have to sort of put that mind set on instead of saying, ‘this is absolutely ridiculous.’ You have to realize none of this is for actual wearing.”

That’s not all that separates the Met Gala from your typical red carpet. According to the “Fashion Police” producer/star, the event is something of a project. It requires “true collaboration between designers and who they’re going with.”

“It’s really a project versus, ‘Hi, I’m doing eight award shows and I need eight gowns,’” the 49-year-old explained. “[The Met Gala] is truly like a big class project. It’s much more of a performance.”

As such, there are some celebrities who nail it year after year regardless of the theme and some who fall flat. Like most everyone else, Melissa looks forward to a core group of women at the Met Gala — “some for good reasons, some for bad.” She says it’s the risk takers, or “the ones that are really going to go big,” that draw the most eyes and generate the most buzz.

So what’s the key to a successful Met Gala look? For Melissa, guests are walking “a very fine line.” The “Fashion Police” star says that attendees must find the balance between couture and costume. Few are able to do it, but one star seems to get it right repeatedly.

“Wear whatever Blake Lively was planning on wearing,” Melissa joked of the actress. “She seems to always hit that one out of the park. She knows just the fine line between a beautiful couture moment and being too costumey.”

To do that you’ll have to first pick apart the theme, which is often left open to interpretation. While no one can say exactly how each star invited to the Met Gala will represent Comme des Garçons on Monday night, Melissa’s got a few ideas based on the label’s history. Trying to sum it up in one word she said to expect stars to go “big.”

“I was actually just looking back at a lot of Comme des Garçons pictures and everything’s very exaggerated. I think we’re going to see a lot of over exaggeration,” she speculated. “There’s so many facets to Comme des Garçons from the sort of androgynous to the very Bj ö rk Avant-garde to the lines that are done in conjunction with other designers and brands and stores. I think it’s open to so much interpretation.”

Whatever stars choose to wear, there are a few unwritten red carpet rules Melissa suggests they follow. The list covers all the bases from “love what you’re wearing” to the illusion of being “comfortable.” Embrace these fashion commandments and they’re sure to slay whatever carpet comes their way.

“Don’t get talked into [wearing] something that’s going to make you feel insecure all night. You’re going to feel insecure enough,” Melissa advised. “Bad tailoring can ruin anything. The major thing is get the thought that you’re going to be comfortable out of your head. People are always like, ‘I just wanted to be comfortable.’ Yeah, well..that’s not part of the deal.”

The Met Gala kicks off Monday at 7 p.m. EDT. Be sure to catch Melissa and the rest of the “Fashion Police” cast on E! Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT as they break down the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between from the event.