:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/blake-lively-sarah-jessica-parker-kate-moss-best-met-gala-looks76-0503202405032024-d7c0c7b373324ea8a412907faaccd9c1.jpg "Fashion Prom Forever! See 80 of the Best Met Gala Looks of All Time")
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala is basically the Oscars of the fashion industry. Held each year on the first Monday in May, the biggest names in screen, music, modeling and more collaborate with the top fashion houses on one-of-a-kind looks — and the photos taken on the Met steps live on forever in style history.
Some celebrities are known for bringing their A-game year after year — Blake Lively and Sarah Jessica Parker are among those who reliably interpret the evening’s dress code in memorable ways. Others may not attend every year, but have knocked it out of the park in extremely elegant ensembles that stand the test of time (two that often get mentioned are Cameron Diaz’s tiered fuchsia Dior gown and Cate Blanchett’s fringed golden Balenciaga). And still more go all-out on the theme dressing; look for Katy Perry or Cardi B to take it to the next level when it comes to the dress code.
The Costume Institute’s famous event is returning on May 6. In support of this year’s exhibit, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” the dress code will be “A Garden in Time.” As we wait to see how the A-listers interpret it on the famous red carpeted steps into the notoriously exclusive event, look back at 80 of the most memorable Met Gala outfits of all time.
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Theme: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Givenchy Haute Couture
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”
Dress: Alexander McQueen
Theme: “Christian Dior”
Dress: Dior (from her friend John Galliano’s debut couture collection as the Creative Director of Dior.)
Theme: “Poiret: King of Fashion”
Dress: Christian Dior
Theme: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Guo Pei
Theme: “Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design”
Dress: Bob Mackie
Larry Busacca/Getty
Theme: “China: Through the Looking Glass”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Theme: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”
Dress: Oscar de la Renta
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Maison Margiela
The Theme: “Haute Couture”
Dress: Calvin Klein
Theme: “AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion”
Dress: Alexander McQueen
Theme: “Camp: Notes on Fashion”
Dress: a quilted andfeathered gown by Thom Browne which featured an epic train and jeweled bodice boasting 44 carats worth of rubies
Theme: “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”
Dress and Jacket: Burberry Prorsum
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology”
Dress: Dolce & Gabbana
Theme: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”
Dress: Prada
Theme: “Camp: Notes on Fashion”
Look: custom “Sun God” ensemble by The Blonds which included a bejeweled catsuit outfitted with 10-foot wings and a 24-karat gold headpiece
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination”
Dress: Jean Paul Gaultier
Theme: “Schiaparelli And Prada: Impossible Conversations”
Dress: Givenchy Haute Couture
Theme: “Fashions of The Hapsburg Era”
Dress: Valentino
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Zac Posen
Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Theme: “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations”
Dress: Donna Karan
Theme: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between”
Dress: La Perla
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress and Headpiece: Dolce & Gabbana
Theme: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”
Dress: Stella McCartney
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Tuxedo: Tom Ford
Theme: “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between”
Dress: Maison Margiela
Theme: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”
Dress: Oscar de la Renta
Theme: “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”
Dress: Black column gown with cutouts and gold lamé caftan
Theme: “Camp: Notes on Fashion”
Dress: a beaded latex Thierry Mugler dress, which brought the designer out of retirement and took over eight months to design
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress: a floral strapless gown by British designer Richard Quinn teamed with a a sleek pair of trousers.
Theme: “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”
Dress: Armani Privé
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Diane von Furstenberg
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Giles Deacon
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: Balenciaga (designed by Alexander Wang)
Theme: “China: Through The Looking Glass”
Dress: wearing a dress of her own design, in collaboration with H&M, and Philip Treacy headpiece
Theme: Le Belle Époque
Dress: Thierry Mugler
Theme: “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations”
Dress: Lanvin
Theme: “Costumes of Royal India”
Dress: Bob Mackie
Theme: “China: Through the Looking Glass”
Dress and Tuxedo: Roberto Cavalli
Theme: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”
Dress: Dior
Theme: “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion”
Dress: Marc Jacobs
Theme: “The Eighteenth-Century Woman”
Dress: Calvin Klein Collection
Theme: “Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress: Jean Paul Gaultier
Theme: “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”
Dress and Tuxedo: Ralph Lauren
Theme: “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”
Dress: Dundas
Theme: “Goddess: The Classical Mode”
Dress: Tom Ford
Theme: ‘China: Through The Looking Glass’
Dress: Ralph Lauren
Theme: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”
Dresses: Vintage Chanel (on Mary-Kate) and vintage Gianfranco Ferré (on Ashley)
Theme: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”
Dress: Gucci Première
Theme: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
Dress: Atelier Versace
Theme: “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty”
Dress: Miu Miu
Theme: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”
Dress: Vintage Chanel
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology”
Dress: Zac Posen with a light-up skirt
Theme: “Haute Couture”
Dress: Versace
Theme: “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion”
Dress: Stella McCartney
Theme: “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”
Dress: Armani Privé
Theme: “Poiret: King of Fashion”
Dress: Balenciaga
Theme: “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy”
Dress: Versace
Theme: “Poiret: King Of Fashion”
Dress: Alberta Ferretti
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology”
Dress: Michael Kors
Theme: “PUNK: Chaos to Couture”
Outfit: Givenchy
Theme: “The House of Chanel”
Dress: Calvin Klein Collection (which she wore with flats!)
Theme: Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between
Dress: Dolce & Gabbana
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”
Outfit: Versace
Theme: “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology”
Dress: Brandon Maxwell
Theme: “The House of Chanel”
Dress: Viktor and Rolf
