The Met Gala is THE fashion event of the year for people who have a couture budget and a glam squad who will provide them with a stunning and truly unforgettable look for the night. Every year, the Met Gala has a theme you have to adhere to, and it can range from elegant to gloriously unhinged. Therefore, those attending aren’t interested in playing it safe: some choose the height of sophistication and beauty, others go for the wow factor, but either way, the results are very memorable and, in some special cases, unforgettable. Those unforgettable ones are what we’re going to take a look at today. These Met Gala looks went beyond the fashion world and straight into pop culture.
Princess Diana Brought Revenge-Dress Energy To The Met In Dior
Princess Diana only went to the Met Gala once and made a relatively discreet entrance, but still managed to make history with her dress. She wore a navy gown designed by John Galliano for Dior. It was a slinky, modern, and honestly timeless dress. For accessories, she chose her favourite quilted Dior bag and a pearl-and-sapphire necklace with matching earrings. What’s interesting is that she came very close to choosing a different dress because she worried this one might not be very royal and might be embarrassing because it’s a bit daring. We think she made the right choice; she looked mesmerising.
Katy Perry Literally Showed Up As A Chandelier
Katy Perry sure made quite an impression, and a memorable one for sure, but was it the right kind? The theme of the 2019 Met Gala was “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” and Katy showed up in what can only be described as a chandelier. A Moschino chandelier designed by Jeremy Scott, but a chandelier nonetheless. The dress had to include battery packs because just looking ridiculous wasn’t enough; it also had to light up. And if you thought that was it, we’d like to remind you that she later changed into a hamburger costume for the night.
Marc Jacobs Decided A Tuxedo Was Boring And He Was Right
Men usually wear suits to these types of fashion events. They might try to make their look more interesting with a unique colour for the suit or extra-fancy accessories, but the base usually stays the same. Well, not if you’re Marc Jacobs in 2012. He wore a sheer black Comme des Garçons lace dress over white briefs, pilgrim-style buckle shoes, and a black clutch. He famously said he didn’t want to be boring and wear a tuxedo. We approve, Marc.
Lupita Nyong’o Made Green Feathers Look Like High Drama
Lupita made an interesting choice with her custom Prada dress. It was a bright green mesh-style dress with sparkly embellishments and feather trim. The internet had a lot of opinions on it. Lupita herself had rejected this dress when it was presented to her as a sketch on paper, but once it was made and she saw the final result, she fell in love with it and wore it to the Met Gala. It was definitely a bold choice. Some thought it was giving vintage flapper energy; others decided it was hideous. But to each their own.
Kate Moss Did ’90s Minimalism So Well She Barely Needed To Try
Kate Moss decided that minimalism was the way to go for the Met Gala in 1995. She wore a pale lemon Calvin Klein slip dress with spaghetti straps and an open back. Back in the day, Vogue UK called it a devastatingly simple slip. But these days, it’s seen as one of the classic Kate Moss cool-girl moves. We think it was minimal but sexy and very ’90s.
FKA Twigs Wore Wearable Art And Didn’t Flinch
FKA Twigs attended the 2015 Met Gala in a Christopher Kane anatomical patchwork dress that was colourful not only in fabric but also in design. The dress had various anatomical body parts, including some quite scandalous ones in the thigh region, and looked like something between fine art and a fashion experiment. Quite fitting for the Met Gala, in our humble opinion.
Lady Gaga Turned Her Arrival Into Performance Art
It’s very Gaga to turn the steps of the Met Gala into a stage for her performance. She showed up in a hot pink Brandon Maxwell cape gown with a 25-foot train, then did a series of outfit reveals. Under the pink gown, she had a black corset-style dress; under that, she had a hot pink column dress; and under that, she wore a black crystal bra and panties with fishnet tights. Not sure if we’re supposed to count it as one outfit or a series of looks, but it was definitely a showstopper.
Rihanna Gave Us The Omelet Meme And A Fashion Masterpiece
We’ve seen fashion history and meme potential in Met Gala outfits so far, but only Rihanna could do both at the same time. Her Guo Pei look was one of the greatest Met Gala moments of 2015. The marvellous yellow fur-trimmed gown featured rich floral embroidery and was truly glorious. It was also very heavy, and Rihanna could barely walk in it. The internet, however, saw huge meme potential in the extravagant 16-foot train of the dress, and the result was the omelette dress meme.
Florence Welch Floated In Looking Like A Gothic Fairy Queen
Florence absolutely slayed in head-to-toe Alexander McQueen in 2012. The soft layers, the dandelion embroidery, the tiered look, the flared sleeves — it was all serving drama and classic Florence witchy-fairytale vibes. Some might think it was too much, but we think it was a perfect look for the Met Gala, and Florence looked very natural in this whimsical, voluminous dress.
Cardi B Arrived As A Giant Feathered Heartbeat
Cardi B made quite a statement with her custom Thom Browne gown in oxblood in 2019. Dramatic doesn’t do it justice; it was gloriously excessive by design. Apparently, this creation took 2,000 hours and 35 people to complete. 30,000 feathers were used for this dress — can you imagine? It also featured 44-carat ruby nipple embellishments that Cardi B hilariously called “half a million worth of nipples.” It was weird, regal, a little unhinged, and truly on theme for a “Camp” Met Gala.
Zendaya Ignored The Theme And Somehow Still Won
In 2017, Zendaya wore a Dolce & Gabbana off-the-shoulder gown with a long train and a bold parrot-and-tropical print. She completed the look by styling her hair in a huge natural Afro and wearing coral-red lipstick. She looked divine. What’s interesting is that she wasn’t actually on theme, yet Vogue said that she still won the Met Gala that year.