How does Mindy Kaling get ready for fashion’s biggest party of the year? With spin-class ambitions (note the word “ambitions”) and a chilled Moscow Mule. Here, wearing a custom gown and clutch by Tory, the actress and writer takes us through her Met Gala day — and straight into the party itself.


8:15 AM
Woke up to go to a 9 AM spin class. It’s 5:15 LA time. Yeah, this isn’t happening. Go back to sleep.
10:15 AM
I’m at Saks Fifth Avenue, looking for Spanx. Fun fact about Saks: You buy Spanx on the 10th floor, but you have to take the elevator to the ninth floor and then take an escalator to get to the 10th.
11:00 AM
Back in my hotel room, debating whether a pimple on my cheek is worth popping or whether it will be too inflamed for the Met Ball. Decide to let it live its life. This is what concealer is for.
1:00 PM
Final fitting for my gown at Tory’s offices downtown. Even the most nondescript room in Tory’s offices is like a Wes Anderson dreamscape. We’re debating statement necklace, no earrings or earrings and no necklace. Since I was a child obsessed with fashion this is the kind of problem I’d dreamed of having (we decided earrings and no necklace).
3:00 PM
Ordered a Moscow Mule in a room at The Pierre where I’m getting dressed. I realize this is the first thing I’ve consumed all day. Now I feel like a glamorous model, the kind of girl who is “so busy she forgets to eat.” Don’t worry, I will eat. See: 7:45 PM.
5:00 PM
Drinks with Tory and reunited with my sweet love Freida Pinto. Freida was a guest star on my show and played the woman my soul mate was dating, but she was such an angel you kind of didn’t mind.
7:00 PM
I am in the red carpet line with Bradley Cooper, Common and Brie Larson. I get along well with all. Possible vacation buddies? Bradley is a guest of Anna Wintour. Hard to focus on what he’s saying because of his piercing blue eyes. I’ll put it this way: I saw American Sniper and was, like, “That troubled Navy S.E.A.L. is hot.”
7:45 PM
Eating a lamb shank and instructing Emma Roberts on the kind of man she should marry.
8:30 PM
Talked to Allison Williams and Matt Lauer. I haven’t seen Allison since her wedding, and I asked if it had changed her dog Moxie’s relationship with her and her husband, Ricky, who is also my friend. She said, “Moxie’s really enjoying the stability in our relationship now.”
9:15 PM
I run into the impossibly cool trio of Zac Posen, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy. These three personify downtown New York. I could see us renting a place in the Vineyard. Just putting that out there.
9:45 PM
Meet Wendi Deng. She says she “likes my show.” She could just be being polite, but I’m going to take it at face value. Met Ball, complete success.




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