EXCLUSIVE: Getting Ready with Constance Wu for the Met Gala

Imagine if the theme of your first-ever

Met Gala

was as outrageous as one could be. Even by

Met Gala standards

. Read: ambiguous. Like Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion, for a very relevant example. That was the case for

Constance Wu

. But, guess what? She got this. She’s a gothic flapper, after all.

Draped in Marchesa-strung pearls and tulle and with glossy finger waves (and a particularly stunning chain-link hairpiece) by

Derek Yuen

, her makeup, at the hands of Pat McGrath Labs makeup artist

Molly Greenwald

, pulled it all together. “The incredible beaded-and-pearled vintage feeling of the Marchesa gown was very much the inspiration, turning her into this dramatic actress of the

’

20s felt on theme in a more classic, retro way,” Greenwald told us of the look she did on Wu for the evening. “Working within the direction of the dress and hair, I implemented small touches of character, like the rosebud lip shape and the longer, skinnier, straighter brow.” Keep reading for a peek inside the dressing room via Greenwald’s camera roll.