“Tech White Tie,” “American Independence,” “The Garden of Time”… What do they all have in common? Well, that’s easy: They were all Met Gala dress codes.
For over 50 years, the Met Gala, often referred to as fashion’s biggest night, has adopted a dress code inspired by the Costume Institute’s annual spring exhibition. Though often varying in specificity and inspiration, this year’s Met Gala dress code is particularly open-ended and therefore welcoming of innumerable interpretations.
“The Gala dress code will be ‘Fashion is Art,’ inviting guests to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history,” reads a statement from the Metropolitan Museum of Art for this year’s gala.
But there are a few more things worth understanding before the first Monday of May rolls around. Allow us to serve as your unofficial guide to the Met Gala dress code and theme — and how they differ.
The difference between theme and dress code
Sabrina Carpenter at the 2024 Met Gala.
(Aliah Anderson via Getty Images)
While “theme” and “dress code” are often used interchangeably when talking about the Met Gala, they technically mean and refer to different things. The Met Gala, for instance, does not have a theme — it has a dress code inspired by the theme of the Costume Institute’s annual spring exhibition. The Costume Institute, a curatorial department within the Metropolitan Museum of Art that houses a collection of over 33,000 pieces of clothing and accessories spanning seven centuries, is the primary beneficiary of the annual Met Gala.
The theme for the Costume Institute’s spring 2026 exhibition is “Costume Art,” and the dress code for the 2026 Met Gala is “Fashion is Art.”
“Costume Art,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge, told Vogue, is inspired by the “centrality of the dressed body in the museum’s vast collections.”
“What connects every curatorial department and what connects every single gallery in the museum is fashion, or the dressed body,” Bolton said. “It’s the common thread throughout the whole museum, which is really what the initial idea for the exhibition was, this epiphany: I know that we’ve often been seen as the stepchild, but in fact the dressed body is front and center in every gallery you come across. Even the nude is never naked. … It’s always inscribed with cultural values and ideas.”
Here are some themes from the Costume Institute’s past spring exhibitions and the accompanying dress code for that year’s Met Gala:
2025
Theme: “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”
Dress code: “Tailored for You”
2024
Theme: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”
Dress code: “The Garden of Time”
2023
Theme: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”
Dress code: “In Honor of Karl”
2022
Theme: “In America: An Anthology of Fashion”
Dress code: “Gilded Glamour and White Tie”
Standout dress code interpretations
Rihanna at the 2018 Met Gala.
(Jackson Lee via Getty Images)
When Vogue declares you the winner of the Met Gala, you know you’ve done something right. At the 2018 Met Gala, Rihanna put a decadent spin on the event’s dress code, which was “Sunday Best,” in honor of the Costume Institute’s theme for the spring exhibit that year, which was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”
Quite literally referred to as “Pope Rihanna” for this ensemble, the “Kiss It Better” singer, who was also a cochair that year, stepped out in a custom Maison Margiela Artisanal look inspired by religious iconography — a minidress, cape and beaded papal miter — designed by John Galliano and exquisitely crafted with pearl-and-crystal embellishments. For finishing touches, RiRi opted for custom Christian Louboutin heels, a pearl clutch and a circa 1934 Cartier crucifix necklace.
But Rihanna isn’t alone in crafting memorable, over-the-top looks for the Met Gala. Also in a league of her own is Zendaya, who has proven time and again why she’s always one of the most hotly anticipated arrivals for the event.
Law Roach and Zendaya at the 2019 Met Gala.
(Theo Wargo via Getty Images)
While it’s hard to pick just one noteworthy Met Gala look from Z, we’ll try our best. A look that immediately comes to mind is from 2019, when the Drama star channeled her inner Cinderella in a baby-blue light-up ball gown by Tommy Hilfiger for the dress code “Studied Trivality,” inspired by the Costume Institute’s spring exhibit “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” It was one of Zendaya’s earlier Met Gala experiences, and yet she still managed to knock it out of the park — with help from her longtime stylist Law Roach, who also dressed as her fairy godmother that evening. It was a perfect marriage of couture and camp. No notes on our end!
Blake Lively at the 2022 Met Gala.
(Jeff Kravitz via Getty Images)
Another Met Gala look worthy of an honorable mention? The custom Atelier Versace gown that Blake Lively wore in 2022. Inspired by art deco architecture in New York City, Lively’s transformative copper-toned gown featured a crystal-embellished bodice and a breathtaking patina-green train, which she paired with matching opera gloves, in honor of the Statue of Liberty. In line with the Costume Institute’s spring exhibit “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” the Met Gala’s “Gilded Glamour and White Tie” dress code encouraged attendees to interpret the extravagance of American style in the Gilded Age — which Lively did to a T.
Don’t expect all attendees to follow the dress code
While you are required to abide by the Met Gala dress code, there have been instances in which attendees showed up in looks that were… well, loose interpretations at best.
Sydney Sweeney at the 2025 Met Gala.
(John Shearer via Getty Images)
Just last year, Sydney Sweeney wore a fringed black beaded Miu Miu frock with a keyhole detail. While the custom-made gown was a chic selection, Sweeney faced backlash for failing to honor the gala’s dress code, “Tailored for You,” inspired by the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” The Euphoria star’s look was criticized for spotlighting neither men’s suiting nor Black dandyism, a movement steeped in the rebellion and liberation of Black men from their enslavers.
Sweeney also revealed the inspiration for her look: Kim Novak, a famed Hollywood actress in the 1950s, who Sweeney was cast to play in the upcoming film Scandalous! But Novak recently called Sweeney the “totally wrong” choice to portray her.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian at the 2013 Met Gala.
(Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images)
In 2013, Kim Kardashian walked the Met Gala red carpet with Kanye West in a floor-length floral-print gown designed by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, while pregnant with daughter North West. It marked her first-ever Met Gala appearance, which is a pretty big deal when you consider the fact that she’s become a mainstay at the event. The gown seemed like a choice, especially since the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition “Punk: Chaos to Couture” and the Met Gala’s “Punk” dress code seemed to encourage edgier, dark-hued ensembles (see: Cara Delevingne’s studded Burberry gown and Miley Cyrus’s mesh Marc Jacobs frock).