What happens when a Progressive princess really, REALLY wants to go to the ball, but no one’s invited her, and the bearded, sensitive lad she’s marrying doesn’t have the cha-ching?

Why, if she’s an elected Progressive princess with chichi Congressional pizazz, she starts by wheedling a pair of golden tickets from her new-found fairy godmother. And then she leans on all the working class mice for favors like glass slippers, a gown, hair, make-up, and pumpkin carriage. Because she knows she’s just cool enough that they should be thrilled to be taken for a ride by her.

See? It’s easy when you know everyone wants to date you.

Or you think they do.

Poor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s probably wondering what’s wrong with all these people. Wasn’t being in the glow of her awesomeness enough?

In fact, the Met ball should have been begging her to attend if they knew what was good for them. So none of this Republican-inspired witch hunt is really her fault to begin with.

…AOC really wanted to attend the September 2021 Met ball – a charity event for its Costume Institute, yes, but also the world’s number-one social event for the rich, famous, and beautiful.

But $35,000 tickets for two people (she wanted her boyfriend to go, too) would cost nearly six figures (if the exclusive ball even approves you). Members of Congress can attend non-profit events, but the Met normally doesn’t invite all of Congress, and this isn’t AOC’s district.

So AOC came by the biggest part of her Met Gala grift the old-fashioned way: trading off of the elected position with which Bronx and Queens voters entrusted her.

AOC snagged two free tickets (after much prodding by her campaign staffer) by cozying up to Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who runs this show for the Met. AOC’s written invitation specifically informed her that she and her boyfriend were “guests of Vogue.”

Little problem: members of Congress can’t take near-seven-figure gifts from companies that employ lobbyists. Vogue is part of a sprawling media firm, including the firm that owns a big piece of Spectrum, our highly regulated internet provider.

The congresswoman’s lawyer, who gets paid specifically to watch for missteps, was a bit worried about the outlay, too. He wanted them to be very, very careful about how it was all phrased. In fact, all the parties went over the “right” words to use when discussing who was footing the tab multiple times in emails.

…As AOC’s anti-corruption lawyer warned her staff, “the Congresswoman could accept an invitation from [the Met], but not [italics his] from Vogue . . . Since Advance Publications is a registered lobbyist, we’ll need to be extra careful!”

Extra careful . . . the morning after. As a Vogue staffer informed AOC’s office the day after the ball, “Hope the [C]ongresswoman had a great time last night! … [W]e have had a number of inquiries . . . Mainly from Page Six. . . . Given that she was a guest of [V]ogue, we were planning to say . . . she was a guest of Anna [Wintour]’s. . . . wanted to check with you.”

Cue hours of highly paid butt-covering. As the bi-partisan Office of Congressional Ethics found last week, “documents” – emails between the Met and AOC’s office to “thread” the “needle,” in one Met staffer’s phrasing – “suggest that there was some attempt to obfuscate Vogue’s role.”

But that’s cool, see. Vogue got to do such a hawt 10-minute Jenny-From-the-Block video with the Prog princess getting ready for her big night. It’s fire. AOC in a bodega for coffee, AOC walking the gritty streets and sidewalks. AOC talks about her mother working as a domestic housecleaner which managed to work in a little bit of that Cinderella “from the attic to the cellar” vibe. Nice touch for the gushy spread the rag did on her.

For her first appearance at the Met gala, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to make a political statement. It was only right. And since she was at fashion’s glitziest night, surrounded by some of the most powerful and famous people in the world, what better medium to get her message out about taxing the rich than, well, to have it written in red on her dress? The Democratic socialist congresswoman wore a white gown by Brother Vellies, splashed with the political slogan across the back (the bottom curve of the C in “rich” nicely mirrored the tulle hem).

“We can never get too comfortable in our seats at the table once they’ve been given,” Aurora James, founder and creative director of Brother Vellies and the founder of the 15 Percent Pledge says. “We must always continue to push ourselves, push our colleagues, push the culture, and push the country forward. Fashion is changing; America is changing. And as far as this theme goes, I think Alexandria and I are a great embodiment of the language fashion needs to consider adding to the general lexicon as we work towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and empowered future.”

“Never get too comfortable in our seats at the table” – probably should have been words that meant something other than progressive argle-bargle, considering where it went once the music and dancing stopped.

For one, AOC was so comfortable being the belle of the revolutionary ball and social media for months, she never bothered with any of the bills that came hand in white glove with her big night. Even though – with all the media attention – she’d assured everyone she was most certainly paying for the incidentals, like the dress, etc, herself.

This turned out not to be the case, as she never paid anyone a dime until the Office of Congressional Ethics got involved.

And, whoa, boy – was she ever stiffing a bunch of the working-class types she champions when she’s on camera.

…Makeup: $344.85. AOC didn’t pay it for six months, after the ethics investigation started. The makeup artist sent the bill to a collection agency, which said it was “EXTREMELY overdue.”

Hair: $477.73. After months of non-payment – also until the start of the ethics investigation — the hairstylist’s rep emailed AOC’s staff that “it would look terrible if we had to file a complaint with the NY Dept of Labor against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

Transportation from the Bronx to the Carlyle Hotel? $586.84 (including idling time – good for the planet!). It wasn’t until May 2022 – eight months after the gala – that AOC reimbursed Conde Nast for her $180 share. Why they split this bill four ways is unclear — the other three people in the car were there for her.

Hotel? $4,602.92 – not reimbursed to the designer until May 2022.

AOC’s boyfriends shoes and bowtie? $406.09 – not reimbursed until May 2022 (under investigation, her staff suddenly decided he shouldn’t receive free gifts).

Car service from the Carlyle to the museum? $571.59 – not reimbursed until May.

Going through the tabs in the reports, it looks like the designer took it in the chops. Not only did it take forever to get anything back from the congresswoman for the hotel, etc (and the car service is so expensive not only because NYC, but because they stayed on-site the entire evening), but there were some sincere revisions to cost of the “rental” for the famous Tax the Rich gown that haven’t been explained.

I can’t imagine the pressure she was under to knock that bill down a buttload. Hah.

Hope James enjoyed her expensive moment in the rich and revolutionary reflected glow of AOC’s sun.

Not sure if we’ll find out, either way, as it’s not looking like we’ll be hearing anything more from her. On Sunday, the NY Times did their best to soft-pedal their Prog princess’s alleged transgressions and spoke to the designer as well.

Regrets? She’s had a few…

Did Ocasio-Cortez Intend to Pay for Her Met Gala Dress?
An investigation found that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might have broken House ethics rules by delaying paying for her gala expenses.

…Aurora James, and her company, Brother Vellies, identified $5,580 in additional unpaid goods and services once they were contacted by congressional investigators, which included transportation to and from the gala, the congresswoman’s share of room charges at the Carlyle, and about $400 for shoes and a bow tie for Mr. Roberts. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez then paid this bill.

“It just really seems that there was a ball that was dropped,” she told investigators. “It is just a deeply regrettable situation. I feel terrible for especially the small businesses that were impacted.”

Ms. Cortez set the internet aflame with her decision to wear the distinctive dress, with some progressive thinkers wondering if she was mocking them by wearing a leftist slogan to an elite event, and some conservatives pointing to the dress as a sign of hypocrisy. She defended it as a way to publicize a message she believed in.

Ms. James, Brother Vellies, and Janna Pea, a publicist for Brother Vellies, declined to cooperate with House investigators. The Office for Congressional Ethics has recommended that they be subpoenaed as the review continues.

…but they’re done talking for now.

Like Icharus, she must be feeling a bit singed after brushing too close to those intense solar rays and hoping it doesn’t hurt too badly when she inevitably bounces off terra firma.

Don’t get comfortable in that seat – you get burned every time by these people. The question is, do you learn anything?

UPDATE: Do check out our fabulous John here at HotAir, too, where he hit this first last week.