Last year at Grace Cathedral’s Carnivale, I found the plastic baby in the King Cake. Tradition dictates this brings good luck. In reality, it kicked off a spectacularly chaotic year where we were outbid on a house by a single minute, and then my daily professional life capsized.

So, walking back into the cathedral last Friday night, now holding the keys to my first San Francisco home and owning The Bold Italic, felt less like attending a party and more like crossing a finish line.

It is an undeniably tense moment in history to put on a gown and attend a lavish dinner. If you ask anyone hovering over the centerpieces at a San Francisco gala how they’re doing, the answer is quite often a subdued, “Oh, you know.” And you do know.

But “subdued” doesn’t mean “stark.” Looking down the long rows of tables, the cathedral was awash in the vibrant, shifting colors of the Year of Resonance.

The banquet rows stretched into heavy columns toward the back of the church, and my boyfriend and I, ravenous collectors of fancy brocades, admired the table settings while noting a subtle shift in the room’s gravity. It wasn’t the wall-to-wall crush of last year, which frankly, felt like a relief. The energy was still electric—Samba dancers and the Chris Clouse Project made sure of that—but we actually had the space to have real conversations.

And that intimacy paid off; the evening raised nearly $1 million for the cathedral’s community programs. That revenue is a lifeline for the cathedral’s inclusive ministries and its Artist in Residence program. This year’s resident is Bill Fontana, a renowned sound artist whose work captures the hidden acoustics of iconic structures, like the vibrations of the Golden Gate Bridge, or the tolling of Notre Dame’s bells.

The fashion at Grace Cathedral always delivers a specific kind of ecclesiastical glamour, and the looks this year were no slouch. My stand-outs for 2026:

Kate Tova and Johnny Blanchard

Kate and Johnny always look like they were rendered by a high-end graphics engine built exclusively for Instagram perfection. Kate and I started on the gala circuit together back in 2022, and this night felt like our longest conversation since then. She’s living in Monterey now, painting lavish oil landscapes and singing karaoke with Johnny.

Her mom made this architectural spring tulle dress, and Kate finished it with her own custom-made butterfly necklace and appliqués. Johnny matched the energy perfectly in a green suit with a butterfly bow tie he likewise had decorated.

Vivian Hill and Philip Hoon

A masterclass in quiet luxury from this Marin couple. Philip sported a Louis Vuitton green jacket that looked like a tailor-made Impressionist painting, while both wore stiff, pleated white Dior collars that added a sharp, almost Elizabethan drama against the church setting. When I asked where they found them, they casually mentioned they were gifts from attending the Dior fashion show in Paris. Like you do.

Erin McCune and Dr. Robert Brown

Erin, a co-chair for the night, brought out a knockout green peacock-feathered fascinator straight out of the Kentucky Derby, paired with serious layers of pearls. A true maximalist Carnivale moment against Robert’s sharp tuxedo.

The Feathered Guy

I didn’t get his name, but the look was perfectly executed. Draped in a heavy, layered white feather stole with a masquerade mask, he looked like an angel who just wandered in off the street to judge us all.

The highlight of the night for me remains the Vanity Portrait Studio. It’s a 90s-style glamour shot that somehow successfully marries the dramatic flair of a mall photo studio with the precision of a Vogue cover shoot. I made both of our looks: my shimmering blue floral ballgown with a structured midnight blue bodice, and my BF’s metallic cobalt blue suit. We hit the booth hard, and actually hit it twice, lol. The line was really long, and I wanted my perfect photo.

The night ended without a trip to Zeki’s or a secret “after-after” party. We just walked out into the cool San Francisco air, leaving the neon-lit arches behind. Staring back at those heavy cathedral doors, it suddenly clicked. In a city constantly told it’s in a “doom spiral,” throwing on tulle and brocade isn’t about ignoring reality. It’s our way of stubbornly proving we’re still showing up for it.

I used to think the King Cake baby I found last year was a promise that nothing would go wrong. But luck isn’t an immunity shield against life’s disasters; real luck is just having the audacity to survive them, and to look fabulous while doing so.

Saul Sugarman is editor in chief and owner of The Bold Italic.

The Bold Italic is a not-for-profit media organization, and we publish first-person perspectives based in San Francisco and the Bay Area. We operate under a fiscal sponsorship of a 501(c)(3). Learn more about us.

More photos of Grace Cathedral Gala 2026 from Drew Altizer Photography