The Met Gala is famously known as the Super Bowl of fashion. Why? Well, it’s one of the most exclusive (and stylish) social events in the world, and celebrities always go all out for the occasion on the red carpet.
Like the championship game, though, sometimes stars and their glam squads surprise Us with the unexpected — be it a never-before-seen hairstyle or a wildly unpredictable eye makeup.
Celebrities aren’t afraid to deliver drama at the event dubbed the party of the year, even if it means polarizing fans with totally head-turning beats.
Take Nicole Richie Nicole Richie , for example. She commanded attention with gray-white hair at the 2013 soirée to fit the event’s “Punk: Chaos to Couture” theme. The following year, Joan Smalls proved a bold lip is always a good idea when she rocked a metallic blue shade for the “Charles James: Beyond Fashion” theme.
Through the years, Met Gala beauty has gotten better and bolder. At the 2019 celebration, Billy Porter nailed the “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme by transforming into what he said was an “Egyptian Sun God,” while Gigi Hadid showed up with spiky white eyelashes made of feathers.
When the first Monday in May rolled around in 2021, Vogue‘s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour, who has spearheaded the event since 1995, had to postpone it until September 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, the new date was a fitting choice, as it also marked the grand finale of New York Fashion Week. For the “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” theme, the co-chairs included Timothée Chalamet, Billie Eilish, Amanda Gorman and Naomi Osaka.
The stars shone brightly on the red carpet, thanks in no small part to the technicolor eyeshadow trend of the moment, which featured vivid pops of pink and purple. Several A-listers donned the mesmerizing look, from Rihanna Rihanna to Camila Cabello.
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian Kim Kardashian almost broke the internet when she arrived in an all-black Balenciaga ensemble that completely masked her face, allowing her flawlessly styled hair— a 75-inch faux ponytail extension that cost $10,000 to create — to speak for itself.
At the 2022 gathering, titled “In America: An Anthology of Fashion,” the Skims mogul turned up with a bleached dye job. Her platinum blonde updo perfectly complemented Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” naked dress, which Kardashian borrowed for the evening from Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!
But the reality star wasn’t the only one to surprise onlookers with a radical hair transformation. Keep scrolling to see these and more of the most over-the-top beauty moments at the ball over the years, just in time for the forthcoming 2025 Met Gala, which is set for Monday, May 5.
