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Kelsea Ballerini offered a few glimpses her whirlwind Met Gala debut on Monday evening (May 6). She posted a few photos and videos on Instagram on Wednesday (May 8), including the moment she saw her stunning floral gown for the first time (on the fourth slide).
The powerhouse country star said it was “truly a night and experience i’ll never forget,” she wrote in her caption. Ballerini expressed “endless gratitude” to fashion designer Michael Kors and “the dream team…for bringing this into bloom.” She arrived at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City wearing a sheer floral gown with a flowing train. This year’s dress code was “Garden of Time,” and the theme and title of the Costume Institute’s new exhibit is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
Ballerini, who caught up with iHeartRadio’s Emily Curl on the red carpet, might have manifested her Met Gala debut. She wrote in a tweet on May 7, 2018: “I will wear a fish tank on my head and crocs on my feet...I just want to go to the #MetGala one day.” Ballerini reminisced on a video she filmed two years ago, posting it on TikTok on Wednesday and gushing over “the difference two years can make.”
The “HEARTFIRST” artist attended the Met Gala with her boyfriend, Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes. Ballerini confirmed the couple’s budding romance in an interview in February 2023 after dating rumors swirled, prompted by a photo Stokes posted with Ballerini at the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 9, 2023. Ballerini has since shown screenshots of the moment she slid into Stokes’ DMs on Instagram in December 2022.
Since then, Stokes has already seemed to inspire some of Ballerini’s songwriting in her next chapter of music, following Subject To Change and Rolling Up The Welcome Mat. Ballerini has said that she’s working on music that reflects the current chapter of her life. During a performance at the historic Grand Ole Opry in November, Ballerini welcomed Karen Fairchild and Hillary Lindsey to the Opry stage to deliver the debut live performance of the song they wrote together, “To The Men That Love Women After Heartbreak.”
“The reality is, I’ve been singing about a chapter of my life that is far past me now,” Ballerini said on the Opry stage, referencing the Rolling Up The Welcome Mat tracks that share her story of heartbreak and healing after divorce. “And I’m writing about the chapter of life that I’m in, and it looks very different, and I kind of wanted to share a bit of it now. I’m very gently and slowly starting to make the next record. I really want to take the time to handle it with care.”
Ballerini said when she posed photos and videos on Instagram she was “typing this [her caption] while heading back to the studio to finish up the record, (and) feeling really lucky and thankful.”