29 iconic Met Gala looks from the best-dressed guests since 1973

NEW YORK — The Met Gala is that this Monday, and we’re counting down a few of the most iconic looks from the finest dressed stars, like the one and solely Rihanna and two of this year’s co-chairs Bad Bunny and Zendaya. 

Bad Bunny’s all white look, 2023 Met Gala

Bad Bunny shall be amongst the Met Gala co-chairs this 12 months, together with Zendaya, who additionally made the best-dressed listing, Jennifer Lopez and Chris Hemsworth. 

Coming off a red-hot 12 months in 2022, when he launched his chart-topping album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” the Puerto Rican star was a imaginative and prescient in white at the 2023 Met Gala.

Last 12 months’s theme was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty,” and Bad Bunny wore a white tweed swimsuit from Jacquemus with a daring cutout revealing his again. He carried a 26-foot cape with flower particulars and completed the look with pearl stud earrings. 

It was designer Simone Porte Jacquemus’ first time at the Met Gala and he told Vogue he knew who he wished to convey as his visitor. 

“Bad Bunny is my favorite artist, it’s a dream to dress him for my first Met Gala,” Jacqumeus mentioned in the interview. “I was so inspired by him, he is the ultimate Jacquemus muse.”

Michaela Coel dripping in gold, 2023 Met Gala

Michaela Coel was a co-chair for the 2023 Met Gala and he or she dazzled in a floor-length robe by Schiaparelli that was lined in crystals, accompanied by a big diamond necklace and chunky gold earrings.

The “I May Destroy You” creator’s pores and skin was glowing, with the assist of make-up artist Bernicia Boateng, who instructed Vogue she “wanted her skin to beam and almost speak for her.”

“Anna [Wintour] has been a real champion of me, she put me on the cover of American Vogue,” Coel mentioned in a behind-the-scenes interview as she acquired prepared for the gala. “She said that I am not afraid to be myself… and that’s why she asked me to co-chair.”

Her fellow co-chairs included Penélope Cruz, Roger Federer and Dua Lipa.

Doja Cat goes full cat, 2023 Met Gala

Love it or hate it, Doja Cat didn’t maintain again for the 2023 Met Gala. It was her first time attending, and he or she totally embraced — and embodied — the theme, dressing up as Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved cat, a Burmese named Choupette.

Doja Cat wore an Oscar de la Renta robe with cat ears on the hood and a big diamond that dangled in entrance of her brow. To full her cat transformation, her make-up featured black cat eyeliner and made her nostril look extra cat-like.

The Grammy winner famously stayed in character for her purple carpet interview, answering each query with “meow.”

Choupette, who Lagerfeld reportedly acquired as a present from French mannequin Baptiste Giabiconi, has her own Instagram account with greater than 1 / 4 million followers.

Blake Lively’s NYC impressed robe, 2022 Met Gala

Blake Lively has been gracing the Met Gala for greater than a decade, and he or she ramped up the drama in recent times. She wore a shocking Atelier Versace robe for the 2022 Met Gala, drawing inspiration from New York City landmarks to suit the theme “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” 

Lively made an entrance on The Met steps worthy of her “Gossip Girl” character Serena Van Der Woodsen. Her first look featured a metallic bodice and bow impressed by the Manhattan skyline and Empire State Building, then it remodeled into an extended blue-green prepare primarily based on Grand Central’s constellation ceiling. She additionally wore a seven-tier crown to represent the Statue of Liberty. 

Husband Ryan Reynolds was by her facet to co-chair the occasion in a black velvet tuxedo by Ralph Lauren. 

Lively additionally made the best-dressed listing with one other Versace robe at the 2018 Met Gala in a jeweled bodice and detailed embroidery, paired with a halo headpiece. 

Lil Nas X’s large reveal, 2021 Met Gala

Speaking of epic entrances, Lil Nas X placed on a present at the 2021 Met Gala with three distinct looks from Donatella Versace. 

He began in a big, gold cape that was then eliminated to disclose a golden swimsuit of armor beneath, which he later shed to indicate off a crystal-covered physique swimsuit. 

The fashion house called it a “three-part LGBTQ+ American fairytale.” First, the cape hid his establish, then the armor symbolized safety towards prejudice, and at last the physique swimsuit represented “living life as your true, unguarded self.”

The artist is thought for his daring vogue selections, together with his purple promenade take a look at the MTV Awards simply days earlier than.

Iman’s newest iconic look, 2021 Met Gala

Nobody does it fairly like Iman. The supermodel has worn so many iconic looks over the years, however the 2021 Met Gala will go down as one among her finest. 

Her outfit from Harris Reed, supported by Dolce & Gabbana, featured a gold strapless jumpsuit beneath a large hoop skirt and matching headpiece manufactured from feathers. 

Reed told Vogue they had been impressed by 18th-century hooped cage skirts that would “take up space in a way that says, ‘I deserve to be here and I own it.'”

Iman first attended the Met Gala in 1981 with Calvin Klein and later appeared alongside her husband and fellow vogue icon, David Bowie. 

Maluma’s purple leather-based swimsuit, 2021 Met Gala

Maluma was the first reggaetón artist to attend the Met Gala when he made his debut in 2019 and he continues to push the envelope. 

He joined Donatella Versace for the 2021 Met Gala in a red-hot leather-based swimsuit with bejeweled accents and equipment. 

“My favorite part of my outfit was everything,” Maluma told Vogue. “I loved the cowboy inspiration, as I ride horses, but the highlight was the belt… It was a signature Versace cowboy belt inspired by the late Gianni Versace’s classic ’90s looks.” 

He additionally wore a 14-karat gold chain hyperlink glove together with his nickname, Papi Juancho, written in stones. 

Zendaya’s light-up Cinderella look, 2019 Met Gala

Zendaya joins Bad Bunny as this 12 months’s co-chairs, and the fairy princess is shortly changing into a queen of the Met Gala. Her Cinderella robe was amongst the highlights of the wacky and peculiar 2019 Met Gala, “Camp: Notes on Fashion.”

With the wave of a wand from her stylist and fairy godfather Law Roach, the costume lit up The Met steps, literately. It magically modified from grey to blue, prompting a big cheer from the crowd.

Roach mentioned the robe, by Tommy Hilfiger, represented Zendaya’s transformation from the Disney Channel to “Euphoria” and extra grownup roles.

As for this 12 months’s look, he says Zendaya’s costume will not even be fitted till Saturday, two days earlier than the large occasion. 

“I haven’t seen Zendaya’s dress!” he told The New York Times in an interview printed Thursday. “We’ve been on two press tours – ‘Dune 2’ and ‘Challengers’ – and doing two Vogue covers.”

Time to work their Met Gala magic.

Kardashian household photograph, 2019 Met Gala

The Kardashians walked The Met steps collectively for the 2019 Met Gala and posed for an epic household photograph.

Kim Kardashian donned a skin-tight corset costume from Thierry Mugler that appeared as if she had simply emerged from water. She was accompanied by her then-husband Ye, previously generally known as Kanye West. 

Her sisters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, wore coordinated sheer Versace clothes embellished with vivid orange and purple feathers, respectively. Kylie was joined by her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Travis Scott. 

And in fact it would not be a Kardashian photo-op with out mother, Kris Jenner. She had on a navy blue Tommy Hilfiger jumpsuit with outsized grey shoulders, plus a platinum blonde wig that was reportedly a last-minute suggestion from Kylie.

The Kardashian sisters have been identified for some hit-or-miss looks over the years, together with Kim’s notorious “black-out” look in 2021.

Billy Porter goes for gold, 2019 Met Gala

Oh Billy Porter, the place to start. His 2019 Met Gala look was one for the ages. 

Porter entered the occasion lounging on a platform carried by six shirtless males. He then climbed all the way down to unfold a pair of big, golden wings.

In a behind-the-scenes interview earlier than the large reveal, he told Vogue that “Camp” is usually discounted or “thought of as cheesy,” however, “when it’s done properly, it’s one of the highest forms of fashion and art.”

Porter enlisted New York City-based model The Blonds to design the Ancient Egypt-inspired look. 

“Given the massive collection of Egyptian art The Met has, it was also our way to pay respect to that,” he mentioned. 

Lady Gaga’s many looks, 2019 Met Gala

Before Lil Nas X and Blake Lively pulled off a number of outfits, Lady Gaga was the authentic shapeshifter at the 2019 Met Gala. It was nearly like the star was born to tackle the theme.

Lady Gaga rocked 4 totally different looks all designed by her buddy, Brandon Maxwell. First, she arrived in a large pink costume with a 25-foot prepare and 5 dancers carrying umbrellas. As she entered The Met steps, her group unzipped the cape to disclose one other black robe beneath. 

Then she unveiled one other pink costume paired with giant black sun shades, showing to use make-up and pose for selfies. And lastly, she shed that costume and stripped all the way down to a black bra, panties, stockings and boots.

The entire theatrical efficiency lasted about quarter-hour and despatched the crowd right into a frenzy.

Cardi B’s big feathered robe, 2019 Met Gala

Cardi B made a daring assertion in head-to-toe ruby purple at the 2019 Met Gala. Her feathered robe featured a hood, big prepare and reportedly 44 carats value of rubies on the bodice. 

Designer Thom Browne told Vogue he created this costume for her as a result of she “has the ultimate beauty in a woman’s body.”

The Bronx rapper was additionally lined in jewels at the 2018 Met Gala, when she was a number of months pregnant together with her first little one, daughter Kulture. 

“Wifey is the truth, she just killed the Met Gala,” her then-husband, Migos rapper OFFSET, posted on social media after the 2019 gala.

Jared Leto holds his head, Met Gala 2019

Jared Leto has been identified for his excessive costumes, and the 2019 Met Gala was no totally different. He turned heads with a lifelike prop that appeared very like his personal head. 

According to Vogue, Leto took a web page from Gucci’s Fall 2018 runway present when mannequin Unia Pakhomova carried a reproduction of her head as a clutch. His purple robe and crystal harness had been designed by Alessandro Michele for the vogue home. 

Leto outdid himself in 2023 when he confirmed up in a fluffy, full-body cat swimsuit. 

Sadly for his followers, he’s reportedly sitting out the 2024 Met Gala as a result of his band, “30 Seconds to Mars,” is touring in Europe.

Katy Perry’s heavenly wings, 2018 Met Gala

“Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” was the Met Gala theme in 2018, and Katy Perry soared in a large set of angel wings from Versace.

She rocked a platinum blonde pixie reduce with a gold mini costume and thigh-high boots. On prime of that sat her large wings that stretched from the flooring to effectively above her head.

The singer pulled up in a classic convertible earlier than posing with the wings on The Met steps. 

It was a toss-up between this and her outfit the following 12 months, when she wore a crystal chandelier on her head after which wearing a burger swimsuit for the afterparty.

Frances McDormand has enjoyable with a headpiece, 2018 Met Gala

Frances McDormand had the most enjoyable with a whimsical headpiece from Valentino at the 2018 Met Gala. 

The Oscar winner was photographed putting her finest movie-star-pose as the large headpiece almost lined her entire face. 

She was later seen in a social media video rocking out to the tune “Where’s Your Head At” inside the museum.

Two years later, McDormand appeared on the cover of Vogue, telling the publication, “to still be culturally relevant as a 63-year-old female is so deeply, deeply gratifying.”

Rihanna’s epic yellow entrance, 2015 Met Gala

It was nearly inconceivable to select the finest Rihanna look, however her arrival for the 2015 Met Gala stole the present. 

The big yellow robe was designed by Chinese designer Guo Pei for that 12 months’s theme, “China: Through the Looking Glass.” Her dramatic prepare appears to have ushered in period of those clothes and their grand entrances.  

Rihanna had back-to-back hits for the “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: The Art of the In-Between” theme in 2017 and for “Heavenly Bodies” in 2018. 

Then, in fact, in 2021, she walked the purple carpet together with her associate, A$AP Rocky, whereas pregnant with their first little one, RZA, and once more in 2023 whereas anticipating their second son, Riot Rose. 

Beyonce’s nearly-there bare costume, 2015 Met Gala

The bare costume is not precisely new, however jaws dropped when Beyoncé walked in sporting this to the 2015 Met Gala. 

The floor-length costume from Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci featured strategically positioned jewels however was in any other case see-through.

Beyoncé’s stylist Ty Hunter says her 2015 robe was the heaviest to put on.

“A lot of the rhinestones and gems, the rocky crystals, they were very heavy,” he told Women’s Wear Daily. “It looked like the lightest ones because she looked naked under it, but it was one of the heaviest.”

The star had simply given start to her daughter, Blue Ivy, roughly 4 months earlier than.

Solange Knowles’ fan costume, 2015 Met Gala

Queen Bey’s youthful sister additionally made the listing for the 2015 Met Gala with a head-scratching mini costume. 

Solange Knowles sported a futuristic design from Giles. While she told Refinery29 the costume “gave the illusion of the fan,” others compared it to an oyster, a sting ray or a pc background. 

Solange is thought for taking vogue dangers, and in 2018 she made headlines for asking her followers to vote for her outfit. 

Andre Leon Talley, a purple carpet staple, 2015 Met Gala

Andre Leon Tally was a fixture at the Met Gala since 1974 and he hosted its purple carpet correspondence till 2018. The former Vogue inventive director died of a heart attack in 2022 at the age of 73.

He is seen right here leaving The Mark Hotel as he prepares to host the 2015 Met Gala. That 12 months, he praised Rihanna’s robe as “indulgent” and “luxurious,” calling her the “queen of the night.”

Talley’s vogue profession started at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute the place he took an unpaid apprenticeship beneath Diana Vreeland. Those who knew him mentioned he did not merely examine vogue, he was obsessive about it since his childhood. He went on to work for Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue, in the end changing into the first Black man to be named inventive director. 

Kate Moss in metallic, 2009 Met Gala

Supermodel Kate Moss was the darling of the 2009 Met Gala in a metallic mini costume and matching headwrap from Marc Jacobs. That 12 months’s theme was “The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion,” and he or she could not have been extra proper for the half. 

Moss and Jacobs have labored on runways and campaigns collectively since the Nineties, courting again to his controversial grunge assortment.

Moss additionally will get factors for her 1995 Met Gala look, when she wore a pale yellow Calvin Klein slip costume with a plunging again.

Sarah Jessica Parker with Alexander McQueen, 2006 Met Gala

It goes with out saying, however Sarah Jessica Parker is all the time one to look at at the Met Gala. Her profession has seen numerous head-turning looks, from a thrifted costume for her first Met Gala in 1995 to her outsized mohawk for the 2013 theme “Punk: Chaos to Couture.”

One look that stands out is her outfit for the 2006 Met Gala theme “Anglomania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion.” She walked in with Alexander McQueen sporting a brief costume whereas he wore a jacket, tie and kilt, they usually each had coordinating plaid sashes. 

Parker later told Vogue she was nervous as a result of she deeply admired the late designer and even saved scraps of material he used from their costume fittings.

Liv Tyler & Stella McCartney “rock royalty,” 1999 Met Gala

The 1999 Met Gala theme was “Rock Style,” so who higher to make a splash than Liv Tyler, the daughter of Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, and Stella McCartney, daughter of The Beatles’ Paul McCartney?

The duo attended the gala collectively in matching shirts with the phrases, “Rock Royalty” scrawled on them. McCartney told Vogue she took a pack of Haynes shirts to a classic store in Little Italy, the place she helped customise the last design. 

“I didn’t come at it intentionally to be rebellious at all. I didn’t know what people wore,” she mentioned.

“It wasn’t really appropriate that we wore those shirts. Officially, we weren’t following the honors of the dress code. It was very cool and rebellious of Stella,” Tyler added.

Princess Diana’s silk slip, 1996 Met Gala

From rock to royals, Princess Diana’s look at the 1996 Met Gala goes down in historical past as one among the most memorable moments. The theme that 12 months was “Christian Dior.”

Princess Diana made a press release in a blue floor-length silk slip costume from John Galliano for Dior and a pearl choker. Vogue described it as her “most un-royal look to date,” and mentioned it signaled her freedom after her divorce and departure from the royal household. 

Dozens of different royals have attended the gala over the years, together with the Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece who made a number of appearances in 1989, 1995 and 2001. 

Gianni & Donatella Versace in leather-based and gold, 1996 Met Gala

Versace’s designs have come up a number of occasions on this listing, and the siblings behind the model are on right here for his or her leather-based and gold take a look at the 1996 Met Gala. That 12 months’s theme was Christian Dior. 

Gianni Versace was the theme the following 12 months, simply months earlier than he was killed outdoors his Miami Beach residence. 

His sister, Donatella Versace, took over the vogue home and has been a staple of the Met Gala since the Nineties. She dressed a few of the greatest stars, and early photographs present her arriving with Naomi Campbell in 1995 and posing for a photograph with Madonna and Cher in 1997. 

Naomi Campbell’s sparkle costume, 1995 Met Gala

Speaking of Naomi Campbell, she made fairly the entrance on this shimmering, floor-length robe at the Met Gala in 1995, themed “Haute Couture.”

“I loved this dress. It was slim-fitting and body-hugging, and just glistened,” she told Vogue in a 2020 interview. “I remember when I saw this dress for the first time, I thought, wow, Gianni, is that for me? It seemed like one of those dresses that you read in those fairytale books.”

Campbell made her Met Gala debut in 1990 sporting a multi-colored mini costume additionally from Gianni Versace. 

“I was in such awe to first be invited by Gianni Versace through my new roommate, Christy Turlington,” she mentioned. “You dressed up in the ’90s… Enjoy your clothes, enjoy your accessories, enjoy your hair.”

Campbell mentioned her most enjoyable look was from 2019 when she wore a sheer Valentino Couture robe with a feathered cape and lace stockings that got here collectively simply hours earlier than.

Cher dazzles 1985 Met Gala

Cher, the girl who wants no final title, took the 1985 Met Gala theme, “Costumes of Royal India,” to the subsequent stage. She wore a glowing gold and silver physique swimsuit with a big matching ear cuff. 

Other notable guests in attendance that 12 months included Henry Kissinger, Raquel Welch and Barbara Walters. 

Cher might have additionally been the first to put on a “naked dress” at the Met Gala when she made her debut in 1974. The costume had feathered sleeves and he or she wore her lengthy, darkish hair down free. 

Diana Ross in feather robe, 1981 Met Gala

The Queen of Motown, Diana Ross, was photographed sporting a flowing, strapless feather robe at the 1981 Met Gala. That 12 months’s theme was “The Eighteenth-Century Woman.”

Ross sported an identical feathered jacket for the 2014 American Music Awards, when she introduced Taylor Swift with the first-ever Dick Clark Award of Excellence. 

“I’m so blown away to just have received an award from Diana Ross,” Swift mentioned at the time. 

Bianca Jagger’s bodice costume, 1981 Met Gala

Bianca Jagger, a Seventies muse turned social activist, is seen right here sporting a darkish strapless costume with a full skirt and detailed embroidery at the 1981 Met Gala.

Her traditional Dior type impressed Kaia Gerber to recreate the look in 2021. Oscar de la Renta designed an identical robe, and Gerber wore her hair in waves parted to the facet.

Gerber, who’s the daughter of Cindy Crawford, described the dress in a single phrase: “elegant.”

Jackie O, the authentic icon, 1979 Met Gala

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former U.S. first woman, was identified for her vogue that formed the nation. She first attended the Met Gala in 1979 (“Fashions of the Habsburg Era: Austria-Hungary”) and later served as co-chair. 

In 2001, the Met Gala theme paid tribute to the type icon with “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.”

“Jacqueline Kennedy is one of history’s great style icons,” Vogue’s European editor-at-large Hamish Bowles said in a statement at the time. “Her profound influence on the way an entire generation wanted to look, dress, and behave cannot be overestimated. She set the standards that American women strove to follow, and, on the world stage, provided a visual metaphor for the youth and promise of the Kennedy administration.”

The Met Gala shall be held Monday evening in New York City. Watch CBS New York’s special coverage streaming at 8 p.m.