36 Most Jaw-Dropping Outfits From The 2026 MET Gala, Including Nicole Kidman

Lauren Sánchez Bezos revisited a controversy with her 2026 Met Gala outfit.

Arriving solo without her billionaire husband Jeff Bezos, the author and philanthropist wore a navy Schiaparelli gown inspired by one of the most famous portraits in The Met’s collection: Madame X by John Singer Sargent.

The 1883 painting once caused an uproar for showing its subject, French socialite Madame Pierre Gautreau, wearing a black fitted gown that had one strap slipping off her shoulder.

The scandalous painting was kept hidden by Sargent for three decades until he directly sold it The Met.

“When you stand in front of it now, you see a beautiful woman,” Sánchez Bezos told Vogue. 

“For me, the image represents how fashion and cultural standards can shift over time. Today, a strap is a strap, but back when Madame X was painted by Sargent, a strap was a scandal.”

Emma Chamberlain decided to be a painting for the 2026 Met Gala.

With the help of two people to carry her dress, the model and influencer showed up as a literal canvas, wearing a custom Mugler gown by Miguel Castro Freitas.

The dress, hand-painted by Chicago-born artist Anna Deller-Yee, took 40 hours to paint and another four full days to dry.

“I’m somebody who really believes that fashion is art,” she told Vogue a couple of days before the event. 

“My dad is an oil painter and a watercolor painter, and I grew up in a very creative household with art all over my house,” the influencer said as she explained how her family and her love for art inspired her outfit.

Petting her donkey was part of the Met Gala prep for Amanda Seyfried.

The Housemaid actress, 40, wore a bubblegum pink Prada ballgown, with a hugging bodice and a billowing skirt, trailing behind her.

When she spoke about getting ready for fashion’s biggest night, Seyfried said her prep included taking medicine for the acne on her chin and neck, and also spending time with the animals on her Catskills, New York, farm.

Out of all her donkeys, chickens, cats, goats, and ducks, and horses, she mentioned spending time with her donkey Gus ahead of the event.

“I was rubbing his ears this morning to get ready,” she said during the Vogue livestream.

“It's nice to come to the giant Met Ball ... having had just been walking to the clovers and petting the goats and horses,” she added. “But I did start out my day there. It's so balanced.”

It was a rare mother-daughter moment on the Met steps as Nicole Kidman arrived with her daughter Sunday Rose, who made her first appearance at the annual fashion event.

The 58-year-old actress, who is co-chairing the event alongside Beyoncé, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour, wore a custom Chanel by Matthieu Blazy gown in a shade of deep red.

The sequined gown took 800 hours to make and had feathers around the hips and cuffs.

Her 17-year-old daughter made her debut in a sugary pink Dior ensemble. 

“I wanted something red because I wanted to embrace the way in which red has been used in art through the years,” Kidman said during Vogue’s livestream. “I feel that it's a strong symbol of love, for passionate love, for power and motherhood.”

Venus Williams showed up in full icon mode and, for the first time, was seen posing on the Met Gala red carpet with her husband Andrea Preti.

The tennis star has been a regular guest at the annual event and served as a co-chair this year. 

As for the inspiration behind her outfit, she simply had to look in the mirror.

She wore a Swarovski crystal mesh gown inspired by Robert Pruitt’s Venus Williams, Double Portrait (2022), a portrait of herself commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.

“It reflects not just my journey but the legacy of those who came before me—especially pioneers like Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe, who paved the way,” she told Vogue. “It felt like a personal way to connect with ‘Costume Art’—using fashion to tell a story about legacy and progress and honoring those who made it possible.”

Even fabric can be used like clay. Exhibit A: Christine Beauchamp’s structural red gown.

The businesswoman wore a vibrant, tiered crimson lace ensemble with a sculptural ruff that literally framed her face.

Amy Griffin wore a sleek, one-shouldered crimson gown with a plunging neckline and a flowy train trailing behind her.

The American venture capitalist and author kept the look sleek, pairing the dress with a chunky silver cuff and a no-drama hairdo.