Simone Ashley Glittered In A Bronze Bodice at the 2022 Met Gala

Leave it to a Bridgerton star to understand what Gilded Glamour calls for. ELLE May cover star Simone Ashley was understated but stunning in a ballooning black cape and bronze bodice for her first Met Gala appearance. She styled her tresses in a slicked-back play on the popular “wet hair” trend, pairing minimal makeup with equally minimal diamond jewelry against a glittering bodice. The look was minimal but sophisticated, elegant but magnetic enough to encapsulate the evening's dress code.

Just don't refer to Ashley as a model, no matter how well she might nail a red carpet. As she revealed in her cover interview, Ashley—who plays Kate Sharma in Bridgerton's hit season 2—originally signed with a modeling agency in her late teens but insisted on attempting an acting career. Her breakthrough came with a recurring role in the Netflix dramady Sex Education. Now, it's hard to imagine anyone other than Ashley wearing Kate's velvet riding cape and lavender silks. “Meeting Simone, she made more sense as Kate than I even knew was possible,” her co-star Jonathan Bailey told ELLE. “She holds moments in such a composed way. And my gosh, her eyes can tell a hundred thousand stories.”

Nor was Ashley the only Bridgerton sophisticate gracing the Met Gala red carpet. Ashley appeared alongside her co-stars Phoebe Dynevor and Nicola Coughlan, with Coughlan, in particular, finding inspiration in her Netflix role: She wore a feather-adorned gown that winked at her status as the quill-wielding gossip Lady Whistledown. But it was Ashley who best embodied the grace—and unbridled luxury—of the Gilded Age. We would expect nothing less from a woman so vexing.

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