Inside Met Gala, where there's always someone more famous

U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe had just gotten her beverage at the bar at the edge of the room. She looked back at the throbbing crowd of celebrities packed into the center of the airy Petrie Court, where the Met Gala was holding its cocktail reception.

Even for a world-renowned athlete, one’s first Met Gala can be a little intimidating -- whoever you are, it seems, there’s always someone more famous (unless you’re Rihanna, maybe.) Rapinoe looked for a bit, and suddenly said “Another athlete! I’m going over.” She headed off in the direction of NBA star Russell Westbrook.

Rapinoe, who looked smashing in her bright red silk Sergio Hudson pantsuit with a royal blue blouse emblazoned with white stars -- she nailed Monday evening’s sartorial theme, American independence -- had just been noting the preponderance of big athletes at this particular gala. “We’ve infiltrated,” she said with a grin.

Indeed, in the room and nearby were a tournament's worth of tennis stars — Serena Williams, recent U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, gala host Naomi Osaka, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens, and U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu, resplendent in Chanel. Westbrook wasn’t the only NBA luminary -- there was Steph Curry and his wife, Ayesha. Gymnasts were in the house, too: Simone Biles made a memorable entrance in an 88-pound embroidered gown with a huge train carried up the museum steps by six men. And gymnast Nia Dennis did an actual gymnastic routine on the steps, to the Brooklyn Marching Band.

But then, the museum was filled with screen and TV stars, too, and musicians, and luminaries of business and politics. In fact, an evening that had been casually billed as a “mini” gala — with the full-size gala to return in May — hardly felt “mini” at all, with 400...