The Weirdest Met Gala Outfits Through the Year's

Fashion‘s biggest night is always one to remember.

Celebrities descend upon The Met steps every first Monday in May to bring their fashion A-game for a different theme each year. Sometimes, in an effort to be memorable, stars will go above and beyond for their outfits, at times resulting in the year’s most outrageous looks.

This year, the Met Gala theme honors the late Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019. The dress code simply reads “In honor of Karl,” leaving it mostly up for interpretation for the celebrities attending — and their stylists. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute curator Andrew Bolton says he hopes guests will celebrate “the spirit of Karl, and hopefully, everyone will come out in vintage Chanel, vintage Fendi, vintage Chloé.”

Vogue‘s Anna Wintour will steer the event, alongside Michaela Coel, Penélope Cruz, Roger Federer and Dua Lipa, who all serve as her Met Gala co-chairs.

“Karl never regarded himself as an artist,” Wintour previously told The Hollywood Reporter. “He thought that was pretentious, he always saw himself as a designer for hire. His relentless drive to move forward also made him prolific; he just had such a fast-moving mind.”

The Met Gala‘s tandem exhibition, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, opening May 5 at the museum, will honor the late fashion designer’s career, illustrate his creative process from the start of it in the 1950s to the end in 2019 and shine a light on his “unique working methodology.”

In honor of this year’s special night, THR is taking a look at some of the weirdest Met Gala outfits throughout the years — from Kim Kardashian’s head-to-toe black Balenciaga look to Jared Leto carrying around his own head.

Kim Kardashian, 2021

Kim Kardashian brought brief anonymity to the 2021 Met Gala when she walked the carpet at fashion’s biggest night in a black Balenciaga haute couture gown with a matching train and mask that kept viewers guessing who was wearing the ensemble. In February 2022, Kardashian told Vogue she “fought against” the look but was ultimately convinced by the brand’s creative director and team.

Madonna, 2016

Madonna bared all — pretty much — on the Met Gala’s Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology carpet, with a bondage-inspired Givenchy thonged bodysuit, complemented by draped lace, thigh-high leather boots, body jewelry and cutouts around her boobs. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Madonna explained that her ensemble was “a political statement” after she faced some criticisms about her risqué choice. “When it comes to women’s rights we are still in the dark ages,” she wrote.