When I first moved to New York City in 2014, I lived in a “junior one-bedroom” apartment on the Upper East Side, only blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That year, I escaped the confines of my 350-square-foot box and walked over to the museum on the first Monday in May. I squeezed through hordes of other onlookers to press myself against a police barricade — all to snag a little glimpse through that iconic tent hole across Fifth Avenue. If you’d told me then that just a few years later I’d be one of the people standing on the Met steps, I never would have believed you.
I’ve had the opportunity to serve as the red carpet reporter at the Met Gala four times throughout my years at PEOPLE. I’ve stood behind the greenery-covered walls and yelled after Rihanna as Getty photographers shouted out pose requests. I’ve witnessed the glitz and glamour of the Met Ball firsthand.
It’s why I feel qualified to deliver a decree for celebrities from the plebeians: If you aren’t dressed on theme, you shouldn’t be allowed into the Met Gala.
If you’re familiar at all with the gala, you know that Anna Wintour’s annual fundraiser for the museum’s Costume Institute is one of Hollywood’s most-coveted tickets. A who’s-who of actors, musicians, society figures, politicians, designers, athletes and — in more recent years — influencers hope to snag a spot at a table inside the 155-year-old building.
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John Lamparski/Getty
Law Roach and Zendaya at 2019 Met Gala
Since Wintour began chairing the event in 1995, the theme — and associated dress code — has evolved into an opportunity for designers to highlight their work and stars to show off their style sensibilities. Themes have included, in recent years, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination (2018’s beloved motif); Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology (2016’s “tech white tie”); and Camp: Notes on Fashion (an unforgettable 2019 exhibit inspired by Susan Sontag’s work).
For 2025, attendees have been tasked with interpreting a dress code called “Tailored for You” — part of the Costume Institute’s overall spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” According to shared literature for the fundraiser, the theme and dress code explore “the indelible style of Black men in the context of dandyism, from the 18th century through present day.”
And if an attendee doesn’t bother interpreting the dress code, they should be turned away at the door. Really — I’m serious. And I think the couch critics of TikTok would back me up.
Now, if you dig through my social media, you’ll see the Rent the Runway gowns I secured through my Unlimited membership for my Met stints were distinctly not aligned with Rei Kawakubo’s aesthetic (2017’s theme), for example. But as a journalist, my Met task was to look nice but fade into the background. My responsibility was to, as the saying goes, report the news, not make it.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Jared Leto at the 2023 Met Gala
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In contrast, these stars walking the carpet should stand out and show off their commitment to the cause.
Some points: Met attendees and their designer partners have months to reflect on the theme and how they can manifest it in their look. The 2025 theme was announced in October 2024, for example. While some gala-goers may not snag an official invite until much closer to the event, there’s no doubt that many — if not most — have ample heads-up to get creative.
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Also, the theme is almost always accompanied by literature (for example, this year’s draws from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity) and detailed style notes. The reference text makes it, in my opinion, fairly easy to find a way in on each year’s subject.
The stakes are, additionally, undeniable. Met looks live in the public consciousness for years after they hit the carpet. They’re referenced and debated by celeb-watchers, annually. Every star knows their Met moment will be dissected, so there’s no question as to why one would want to deliver on the theme.
But yet, every year, someone walks the steps in an Oscars dress. You know what I mean — a simple, strapless black trumpet gown with tasteful diamond accessories. (I’m not going to name names, but there are repeat offenders!)
We want to be wowed — us normal people, watching through our smartphones in our stained Old Navy sweats, hiding in the TikTok comments. You’ve made it to the big stage — run with the opportunity, because we can’t!
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We want Tyla’s Balmain sands of time dress; Rihanna’s fur-trimmed, yellow Guo Pei gown; Zendaya as Joan of Arc in Versace; and, yes, even Jared Leto in costume as Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette.
Lindsay Kimble
PEOPLE Editor Lindsay Kimble at the 2019 Met Gala
As one of the toughest tickets to get, I think Wintour should add a regulation to the Met Gala invite that says “show up ready to serve with an explanation of how your look adheres to the dress code or don’t show up at all.”
As we all wait with bated breath to see this year’s interpretations on May 5, I, mere mortal, issue a final warning to the best and brightest supporters of the Costume Institute: come tailored or see my wrath in the comment section (I know, I know — you’re shaking in your boots).
Happy Met!
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