The Best, Worst and Most Oops of the 2026 Met Gala

The celebrities have all walked up the steps 2026 Met Gala, and left us with much to discuss.

As they do every year, some of the biggest names in film, fashion and music attended the exclusive Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala, and interpreted the dress code — inspired by each year’s exhibit — in unique and unforgettable ways. This year, the exhibit “Costume Art” and its dress code “Fashion as Art” was the jumping-off point for celebrity ensembles that were artistic, interesting, gorgeous and (in some cases) more than a little creepy.

From the best family photo on the red carpet to the worst thing we’re going to see when we close our eyes tonight, read on for the Best, Worst and Most “Oops” outfits, accessories and overall trends from this year’s Met Gala red carpet.

01 of 17

Oops, Were There Other People Coming?

Credit: Dia Dipasupil/MG26/Getty

Beyoncé wasn’t the last to arrive on the Met Gala steps, but don’t tell that to the poor celebrities who had to follow in her massively-trained wake as photographers screamed for her to stop for just one more photo.

02 of 17

Worst Time to Obstruct Your Vision

Credit: Stephanie Augello/MG26/Getty; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty; Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty; Julian Hamilton/Getty

You couldn’t pay us enough to don some eye-blocking accessories just before ascending a notoriously steep set of stairs in front of hundreds of cameras, but that’s what separates us from the people (like Katy Perry, Sarah Paulson, Luke Evans and Rachel Zegler) who got a ticket to the event this year.

03 of 17

Best Reason to Break the Rules a Bit

Credit: Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty

Technically, people under 18 aren’t invited to the Costume Institute Gala. But for co-chair Nicole Kidman (and co-chair Beyoncé!), when your daughter is a fashionista in her own right, rules were made to be broken.

04 of 17

Breast — Oops, We Mean Best

Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock (2); Arturo Holmes/MG26/Getty;

Of course, with an exhibit that is all about how the human body is a vessel for fashion, we expected to see quite a few naked interpretations of the theme. Some of the artsiest? Chase Infiniti’s Thom Browne, Doja Cat’s Saint Laurent and Hailey Bieber’s Saint Laurent.

05 of 17

Best Just for Being Herself

Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty

Why do we feel like Stevie Nicks already had this in her closet?

06 of 17

Best Reunion After No Time Apart

Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt (with her sister and his wife, Felicity Blunt) haven’t spent nearly enough time together on their Devil Wears Prada 2 world tour or their joint Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. They needed to put on black tie and hit an event reminiscent of the one in their blockbuster movie two days later.

07 of 17

Oops, Did They Not See Each Other Before They Left the House?

Credit: Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty (3)

We’re envisioning that Spider-Man meme between Kim Kardashian and her sisters Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner: “Wait, you’re wearing the sculpted boob dress? I thought I was!”

08 of 17

Best Princess of Genovia Moment

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

On a night when so many go high-concept, we can appreciate a look that’s just plain pretty — like Anne Hathaway’s Michael Kors gown, handpainted by artist Peter McGough and worn with some pretty spectacular Bulgari jewelry. Just add tiara and you’ve got Princess Diaries 3 material.

09 of 17

Best Modern Art Interpretation

Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty

Many stars were inspired by the sculptures and paintings inside the walls of the Met, but Sabrina Carpenter didn’t forget that cinema is an art form too — and paid tribute by donning a Dior gown by Jonathan Anderson created of the film strips for the 1954 Audrey Hepburn classic Sabrina.

10 of 17

Biggest Time Commitment

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Ciara’s tribute to Nefertiti included a painstakingly gilded spiked coif, which she admitted took quite some time to achieve. Worth it for this photo, to be honest.

11 of 17

Best Time to Try It

Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/MG26/Getty; Matt Baron/Shutterstock (2)

If you’re ever going to have fun with makeup, the Met Gala is the place to do it, so we appreciate the somewhat consumptive risks taken here by Hudson Williams (going for a “White Swan/Black Swan” thing, he said), Madonna and Angela Bassett.

12 of 17

Best Night for Cool Couples

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky (as well as these other celebrity duos) prove that all you need to keep the spark alive is to be extremely hot, get invited to very exclusive events and then dress better than anyone else there. How hard can that be?

13 of 17

The Annual Supermodel Award for Lowest Commitment to the Theme

Credit: John Shearer/WireImage

Kate Upton has won it. Karlie Kloss has won it. And now it is our honor to bestow upon Kate Moss the annual prize for the supermodel who relied solely on her face card (rather than a fabulously interpretive outfit) to deliver her Met Gala moment.

14 of 17

Worst Bunny

Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty

He’s always Bad Bunny, but tonight, he aged himself up with extremely realistic prosthetics to, as Vogue suggests, reflect the idea of the aging body and its relationship to art. Bring back Benito! (Oh, who are we kidding. He’s still hot.)

15 of 17

Worst Night to Take Off Your Makeup Before Bed

Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty (2); Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Additionally, the idea of the human body as a fashion piece lent itself to a lot of painted-on body art that we bet Paloma Elesser, A’ja Wilson, Anok Yai and Ashley Graham will be scrubbing off with makeup wipes for an extended period of time tonight.

16 of 17

Best Night for a Good Holiday Card Photo

Credit: Theo Wargo/FilmMagic

We bet Beyoncé’s going to use this one to kick off the seven page double-sided newsletter she mails out to friends and family at Christmas.

17 of 17

Worst Sleep Paralysis Demons

Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty (2); Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty

When we heard the dress code, we imagined a lot of naked dresses. We didn’t imagine things would get quite so scary. But Jordan Roth, Heidi Klum and Gwendoline Christie delivered very imaginative and labor-intensive takes on the theme, which we both appreciated for the work that went into them and will probably be haunted by for some time to come.

Photo Editors: Katy Draper and Sara Mantich

Read the original article on People

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All the Can’t-Miss Red Carpet Looks from the 2026 Met Gala

Mehera Bonner

Tue, May 5, 2026 at 3:35 AM GMT+7

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All the 2026 Met Gala Red Carpet LooksGilbert Flores – Getty Images
 (Gilbert Flores – Getty Images)

It’s the first Monday of May, and you know what that means: Every celebrity ever is taking over the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the annual Met Gala. This year’s theme is Costume Art, which—according to head curator of the “Anna Wintour Costume Center” at the Met, Andrew Bolton—will address “the centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collection.”

However, please be advised that the theme is not the same as the dress code. That would be “Fashion Is Art,” which reportedly “invites guests to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied artform.” Pretty vague, so it’s no surprise that celebs interpreted the theme in wildly different ways. Here’s what everyone at the 2026 Met Gala wore—including Beyoncé (scream!) who showed up for the first time in years as a co-chair!