The first Monday in May is fast approaching, which means the next iteration of the Met Gala – the biggest night in fashion – is on its way.
While we eagerly wait to see what co-chairs including Beyoncé (her first Met in a decade) wear, how Anna Wintour handles honorary chairs Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez on the steps (the couple have provided most of the funding for the gala and its exhibition), and how much impact the anti-Bezos protesters have, we thought it would be fun to hit pause on predictions and instead indulge in some Met Gala nostalgia.
Here, eight Guardian writers choose their most memorable looks that once walked up the Metropolitan Museum’s grand staircase.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 2021
Speak truth to power … Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Photograph: Alamy/PA
There wasn’t anything memorable about AOC’s ivory off-shoulder dress with an organza flounce except, of course, the words ‘tax the rich’ scrawled in blood-red on the back. The Democrat was clever not to work with a mega fashion house but with the brand Brother Vellies, whose founder and designer, Aurora James, makes fun and affordable accessories inspired by African designs and handicrafts. And yet. Pushing your progressive socialist values while attending one of the world’s most elite and exclusive fundraisers? A canny photo op but self-defeating, too. In her defence, she didn’t spend $35,000 on a ticket (politicians attending the Met Gala are routinely comped). Still: optics, people. Morwenna Ferrier
Rihanna, 2015
Regal … Rihanna. Photograph: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Rihanna’s “omelette dress” fully committed to 2015’s theme, China: Through the Looking Glass. She found the bold, yellow cape from the Chinese designer Guo Pei while researching Chinese couture. It was bright to the point of excess, but it felt regal, the yellow against the red steps was sharpened further by Rihanna’s red hair. The fact that one woman spent two years hand-making it, only adds to my love of it. And the memes it spawned afterwards, from the cape ‘cooking’ in a frying pan to being worn by Big Bird, made it all the more memorable. Sundus Abdi
Timothée Chalamet, 2021
Chucks … Timothée Chalamet. Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Timothée Chalamet may have been the internet’s boyfriend since his tender, star-making role in 2017’s Call Me by Your Name, but he’s only attended the Met Gala once, as co-chair in 2021. He didn’t disappoint in his one outing though, making a bold statement with an all-white ensemble that blended typical red-carpet fare (a Haider Ackermann double-breasted suit jacket and Rick Owens turtleneck), with streetwear edge (sweatpants and white Chuck Taylors). Chalamet’s embrace of the humble Chuck was a perfect nod to that year’s theme of American independence – sporting the nation’s most democratic shoe on fashion’s most exclusive stage. And so, a gen Z style icon was born. Sasha Mistlin
Lady Gaga, 2019
Born this way … Lady Gaga. Photograph: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
The Met Gala’s Camp theme in 2019 changed the rules of the red carpet. Dressing-up went from glamour to Halloween-in-May overnight. (I still think about Katy Perry’s cheeseburger costume at least twice a week.) Lady Gaga staged a full-scale performance-art moment, walking three blocks to the museum steps in a Brandon Maxwell cape dress with a 25ft-train, before disrobing to reveal three more looks, finishing in diamante lingerie. Still the one to beat. Jess Cartner-Morley
Dua Lipa, 2019
Barbie meets Cher … Dua Lipa. Photograph: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for the Met Museum/Vogue
My favourite Met Gala look is Dua Lipa wearing Versace to the Camp edition. She looked like a Cher Barbie doll that had been back-combed to within an inch of its life, and you can’t say camper than that. Honourable mention to Karlie Kloss, who teased her deeply underwhelming outfit on Instagram with the caption ‘looking camp right in the eye’ – a statement so unintentionally ironic that it circled back on itself and became camp. Joe Stone
Stella McCartney and Liv Tyler, 1999
Accidental rebels … Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney. Photograph: Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images
Long before the term ‘Nepo baby’ had entered the mainstream lexicon, Stella McCartney played into the trope during her very first Met Gala. For the theme Rock Style, McCartney, the designer and daughter of the Beatles’s Paul McCartney, persuaded her pal Liv Tyler, the actor and daughter of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, to wear matching slashed tank tops emblazoned with the words “Rock Royalty”. With everyone else playing it safe in evening gowns, they stole the show – images of the duo filled the front pages the next morning. Nowadays red carpet looks are designed to go viral but as McCartney later revealed to Vogue, that was never the goal: “I didn’t come at it intentionally to be rebellious at all. I didn’t know what people wore.” Chloe Mac Donnell
A$AP Rocky, 2021
Hot … Rihanna and A$AP Rocky. Photograph: Theo Wargo/Getty Images
If you’re A$AP Rocky, it’s quite the power move to turn up to the Met Gala, an event where, if you’re A$AP Rocky at least, hundreds of cameras and billions of eyes will be trained on you, wearing a quilt. The theme was In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, and the quilt is a cornerstone of that lexicon. But far from getting bogged down in history books, Rocky’s look, which featured the quilt and a custom silk taffeta tuxedo underneath it – both the work of ERL designer Eli Russell Linnetz – felt fresh and fun. It also foreshadowed, in 2021, the king of menswear he would be today. Ellie Violet Bramley
Janelle Monáe, 2025
Cybertronic … Janelle Monáe. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA
Janelle Monáe’s get-up gets better every gala. I loved her Camp look (she was like a walking Niki de Saint Phalle artwork, complete with giant eye bra and matching eyeball bag), and her huge handbag for the Lagerfeld year edition – a tribute to Choupette the cat. But her 2025 outfit by Thom Browne, dedicated to Black dandyism, took her styling to the next level. The oversized optical illusion suit! The time-traveller’s monocle attached to her bowler hat! What a steampunk dream. Kate Abbott
Beyoncé, 2015
If looks could kill … Beyoncé, with Jay-Z. Photograph: Broadimage/Rex/Shutterstock
In 2015, Beyoncé arrived on the red carpet four hours late, dressed in what is essentially a vajazzled nude body sock. My love for this dress isn’t rational. The outfit isn’t objectively beautiful, and its relationship to the gala’s theme – China: Through the Looking Glass – is tenuous at best. But when you look this good in 2,000 pink-and-green crystals, why play by the rules? My favourite part is the off-centre, high ponytail. Nothing could be unflattering on Beyoncé, but this pony almost is. The whole effect is high-camp, pure razzle-dazzle. She looks a bit as if she is auditioning for Cabaret, and I love it. Kim Kardashian has worn something suspiciously similar to every Met gala since, but no one else could ever compare. Kitty Drake
To read the complete version of this newsletter – complete with this week’s trending topics in The Measure and your wardrobe dilemmas solved – subscribe to receive Fashion Statement in your inbox every Thursday.