Sarah Paulson and Emma Chamberlain understood the theme, while others looked like prom chaperones

Published May 5, 2026 9:55AM (EDT)

Sarah Paulson attends the 2026 Met Gala celebrating "Costume Art" at Metropolitan Museum of Art (Taylor Hill/Getty Images))

The Met Gala hasn’t always been a capital-E Event. The invitation-only gala, which benefits The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, began in 1948 as a fundraiser that marked the Institute’s annual spring fashion exhibition and was attended primarily by high-society museum patrons. In the 1970s, the celebrity friendships and pop-culture savvy of former Vogue editor Diana Vreeland brought fashion-party glitz to the previously staid dinner; starting in 1995, Anna Wintour ’s meticulously curated guest lists established it as a gauge of pop-culture relevance whose attendees — actors, athletes, artists and politicians — defined the zeitgeist.

Since then, the Gala itself has become a staple of pop culture, with celebrity co-chairs and a host…