This is The Close-Up , where the biggest names in entertainment explain the story behind their latest personal style statement.

"If only you could see me right now," an exhilarated Nia Long tells me minutes before making her Met Gala red carpet debut.

She's calling from a sprinter van stuck in New York City traffic, en route to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and fashion's biggest night. Stylists Matthew and Reginald Reisman are standing in solidarity with Long—her custom LaQuan Smith gown wasn't made for sitting. Despite the start-and-stop drive uptown—and all those seats going unused—I'm convinced when Long says her commute is, actually, "so glamorous."

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(Image credit: Dalvin Adams)

Over 20 years of red carpet walks led The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star to this moment, but "it's not just me standing in a dress," she says.…