Around this time last year, we were all glued to our laptop screens to see what celebrities were wearing at the Met Gala. We can’t do that this year since it’s postponed.
So far, the only thing we’re looking forward to is what fashion lovers will come up with for the virtual Met Gala. (#TeamPreenPH may or may not be booting up The Sims 4 to do our own looks.) We might even see some stars share what they were planning to wear based on the theme “About Time: Fashion and Duration.”
While waiting, we decided to look back on the most iconic Met Gala looks from previous years. These are the outfits that people still go back to today. Here are some of our favorites:
Cher in Bob Mackie (1974)
Bob Mackie is the naked dress king of the ’70s. During the 1974 Met Gala, Cher wore one of his creations: a sheer beaded gown with sleeves and a skirt made from white feathers. When she walked the red carpet, the singer-actress made it on the cover of Time and Mackie told Vogue that “newsstands sold out of it almost immediately.”
Donatella Versace in Versace (1993)
If you’ve seen “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” then you might’ve seen Donatella Versace (Penelope Cruz) wearing a bondage-inspired Met Gala outfit in one of the episodes. It was an ensemble from Versace’s 1992 fall collection, which consisted of a leather top with straps connected to a choker, a leather skirt and black boots with gold detailing. In 2018, Kim Kardashian would wear a similar piece during Versace’s Met Gala afterparty.
Victoria Beckham in Giorgio Armani (2008)
Victoria Beckham wore a sheer white lace Giorgio Armani to the 2008 Met Gala. The theme was “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” and Beckham most likely channeled X-Men’s Emma Frost for her gown.
Doutzen Kroes in Zac Posen (2010)
This is just one of Zac Posen’s many Cinderella-esque Met Gala gowns. In 2010, Doutzen Kroes wore a blue ball gown with puffy tulle sleeves. Style Bistro described Kroes’ look as a “very stylish fairy godmother.”
Beyonce in Givenchy (2015)
Queen Bey seems to be a fan of Givenchy as she’s seen wearing their creations from 2012 to 2016. But if we had to choose one iconic look from her, it’d have to be her naked dress from the 2015 Met Gala. She wore a transparent tulle dress that had colorful beads and stones on the body and the train.
Taylor Swift in Louis Vuitton (2016)
“Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” brought out several silver outfits on the Met Gala red carpet—one of them was Taylor Swift’s. The singer-songwriter showed up in a Louis Vuitton mini dress and debuted a platinum blonde look which Swifties still love to this day.
Claire Danes in Zac Posen (2016)
On the red carpet, Claire Danes appeared to be wearing a Zac Posen ball gown at the tech-themed Met Gala. But when she went inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, her skirt started glowing in the dark. According to Posen, he used custom French organza woven with fiber optics to create the gown’s sparkle effect.
Rihanna in Comme des Garçons (2017)
The 2017 Met Gala paid homage to Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons (CDG) and how she doesn’t conform to traditional tailoring and wearability. Rihanna was one of the few stars who followed the theme and wore a pull-apart, petal-like CDG gown from their fall 2016 line.
Rihanna in Christian Louboutin (2018)
We’re not done with the Rihanna entries. The theme for the 2018 Met Gala was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” which drew a bit of controversy due to concerns regarding the use of Catholic symbols sacrilegiously. Meanwhile, Rihanna showed up to the gala dressed like a high-fashion pope with her jewel-encrusted robe and papal mitre. No biggie, I guess.
Zendaya in Tommy Hilfiger (2019)
At the 2019 Met Camp, Zendaya dressed as Cinderella in a glowing Tommy Hilfiger ball gown. (Yes, we know it’s a lot like Zac Posen’s creation.) Her stylist Law Roach also played the Fairy Godmother and waved his wand to make the gown glow.
Art by Dana Calvo
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