With great star power comes great responsibility.
Okay, so if you even dream of getting into the Met Gala, you basically have to live by Anna Wintour’s rules. Seriously, she has SO many! It’s like, every single thing you do has to be approved. It’s her world, and we’re all just trying to get a glimpse inside it, but only if she lets us, you know?
Since 1995, the global editorial director of Vogue has led the famous charity event, consistently ensuring it remains a prestigious occasion. She’s well-known for having specific rules and expectations for both the staff and guests at this exclusive party, which takes place on the first Monday in May each year.
As Andre Leon Talley explained in the 2016 documentary The First Monday in May, Anna Wintour pays incredible attention to every aspect of the Met Gala. He noted she carefully reviews everything – from the tableware and lighting to the flower arrangements and even the ushers’ outfits – often for months in advance to ensure every detail is perfect.
Since this is a fashion fundraiser, there’s a dress code. Guests are traditionally expected to dress according to the theme of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute exhibition, and this year’s theme, ‘Costume Art,’ means the guidance is ‘Fashion is Art’.
However, in recent times, Wintour has relaxed the reins a bit.
In a 2024 interview with Today, she confessed that the exhibition challenged her usual approach. The show, called “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” had a “Garden of Time” theme. She explained that while the title “Sleeping Beauties” was beautiful and evocative, it was also open to numerous interpretations.
Wintour continued with a laugh, “I fear that we’ve unleashed a lot of confusion out there.”
The Met Gala’s rule against using phone cameras seems to be regularly ignored these days – it’s less of a strict rule and more of a request.
Kylie Jenner famously broke the event’s no-social-media rule in 2017 by posting a bathroom selfie with a group of celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Brie Larson, Paris Jackson, Frank Ocean, Lily Aldridge, and A$AP Rocky. Despite this, she was invited back to the event the following year.
According to Sylvana Ward Durrett, a former Met Gala staff member, Anna Wintour prefers dinner parties where guests actually engage in conversation. Staff members don’t hover, but will politely prompt guests if they notice someone being ignored.
Despite some changes, Anna Wintour will maintain certain Met Gala traditions, like a carefully planned seating arrangement and a minimum age for attendees. To find out everything you need to know about getting an invitation, continue reading…
Getting into fashion’s most exclusive annual event isn’t cheap. A single ticket costs $30,000, and reserving a table will set you back $275,000.
Luckily, not everyone needs to buy a ticket to the Met Gala. Anna Wintour often invites promising new designers, and celebrities who are showcasing a designer’s clothes usually receive complimentary invitations as well.
Despite the high cost, people are still eager to buy it – there’s currently a waiting list.
Cameron Silver, a vintage store owner and frequent attendee of the event, told Page Six in 2017 that he knows people who are desperate to go. They’re fully prepared with their outfits, even if they don’t have a confirmed ticket and are hoping for a last-minute opening.
The ideal guest list changes, but around 500 people is generally considered a good size. While 800 attendees – the most ever at the Met Gala – felt too crowded.
In 2017, Sylvana Ward Durrett of Vogue told Fast Company that they aim for a close, personal feel for attendees. To achieve this, they’ve significantly reduced the event size over the last few years, cutting the guest list by as many as 200 to 300 people.
Although the event is known for being lavish and glamorous, the organizers aim for a sense of exclusivity, limiting attendance to around 500 people, with Anna Wintour typically leading the guest list. As Ward Durrett explained in the documentary The First Monday in May, they want to maintain an intimate atmosphere, believing that’s what draws people to the event.
Just getting invited to an event doesn’t guarantee a celebrity can bring a guest – their partner needs a separate invitation too.
Planning for this major fashion event begins almost immediately after it ends, usually starting the Tuesday following the first Monday in May. It’s a year-round effort, with around 100 people dedicated to it, including 10 who work for Vogue full-time.
Ward Durrett, who was a director of special projects at Vogue at the time, said she relies on a single-page to-do list. It’s a constantly growing list that the team reviews daily, even if some items are repeated, to stay on track.
Her first priority was the tent. From there, she detailed everything needed for it. Creating this kind of list helps her plan the event completely, ensuring nothing is overlooked.
According to the late Andre Leon Talley, a former editor at Vogue, Anna Wintour pays extremely close attention to every single detail. In the documentary The First Monday in May, Talley explained that Wintour personally checks everything – from the table settings and lighting to the flowers and ushers’ outfits – often for months in advance.
She likes to keep everything about her look under wraps. According to Plum Sykes, a contributing editor at Vogue, Anna Wintour is very private about her Met Gala preparations, wanting it to be a complete surprise until she actually arrives on the red carpet, as reported by The New York Post.
Planning seating for a wedding can be tricky, but creating the seating chart for the Met Gala is on another level. It’s a huge undertaking for the event team, who carefully place guests together based on shared interests.
According to Ward Durrett in The First Monday in May, a surprising amount of effort goes into seating arrangements. They consider who sat together previously, at other events, and a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiation is involved.
The seating chart for the event changes constantly as planning progresses. Ward Durett shared with Vogue that she quickly realized Velcro was a much better choice than sticky notes to keep everything organized. She explained that early attempts using only sticky notes were chaotic – names kept falling off, getting lost, and required constant rewriting.
Ward Durrett also suggests using color-coded name tags and, if possible, arranging guests in an alternating pattern of women and men. Surprisingly, she has a firm rule about seating: spouses shouldn’t sit together. The goal of these events is to encourage mingling and learn about others’ work, and sitting with your partner defeats that purpose. Sorry, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds!
Every event has those less-desirable tables – the ones stuck near the kitchen or bathrooms. The Met Gala is no different, and where designers are seated often changes from year to year.
Wintour closely oversaw every detail, even scolding her team for attempting to conceal the H&M-sponsored table in a scene from the documentary The First Monday in May. She firmly stated, “We shouldn’t hide this table; it’s simply not right.”
Okay, so it’s not like these super high-end designers, but I’m loving seeing brands like H&M – yes, they advertise in Vogue, I noticed! – and Topshop and Zara finally getting some shine at the Met Gala! Seriously, H&M totally killed it when they first showed up in 2015. Getting Sarah Jessica Parker to wear a custom gown? A custom gown?! That was a huge moment, and it proved they could play with the big leagues. I was obsessed!
High-profile events like these almost always put former couples and rivals in close proximity. We’ve seen it before – like when Selena Gomez, The Weeknd, and Bella Hadid all attended the same event. Organizers probably try to avoid awkward situations, such as seating Taylor Swift and Katy Perry near each other during their public disagreement. However, the success of the event as a whole is the priority, even if there’s some underlying tension between guests.
It’s impossible to make everyone happy, and we believe there aren’t any truly bad seats in the venue. Ultimately, we focus on doing our best, knowing some people will inevitably be dissatisfied,” said Ward Durrett. “Fortunately, that doesn’t happen often. When it does, we make an effort to work with those individuals the following year to better understand and address their concerns.
In a striking moment from the documentary First Monday in May, Ward Durrett openly indicated to Anna Wintour which guests he wished wouldn’t attend, using Velcro tabs next to the seating chart to mark them.
Oh my god, you would NOT believe the drama! I was reading this article from The New York Times back in 2006, and Cathy Horn was writing about this event, and apparently John Lydon – you know, Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols? – was SO furious about where they put him! It was the very last seat at this long table, like, the WORST spot, and the seating was all planned out, so it was a deliberate snub, I swear! He was visibly upset, and honestly, I don’t blame him. He actually stormed out twice, yelling at the museum staff! It was amazing, and totally proved he’s still got that rebellious spirit, even all these years later.
He eventually took his seat.
On a 2018 episode of The Late Late Show, James Corden playfully challenged Anna Wintour to reveal which celebrity she’d ban from ever attending the Met Gala again.
She responded, “Donald Trump.” (Both Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, have gone to the Met Gala a number of times, but the last time they walked the famous steps was in 2012.)
Oh my gosh, can you BELIEVE it? Tim Gunn – Tim Gunn! – says Anna Wintour totally banned him from the Met Gala! Apparently, he told a story to The Post that she didn’t like, and now he’s on the blacklist? It’s just… shocking! I always loved seeing him on the red carpet, and now it’s all over some story he told? Ugh, Anna Wintour is ruthless, honestly. I’m so upset for Tim!
He described the situation as chaotic, saying, “All hell broke loose,” when he spoke on TopMob’s Fashion Police in 2016. He added that things have been intensely competitive ever since.
Although Billy Porter didn’t say he was banned, he hasn’t attended the event since first appearing in 2019.
He mentioned on SiriusXM’s Bevelations in April 2026 that he felt excluded from the trend of ‘Black dandyism’ last year. He clarified that he doesn’t attend events where he isn’t wanted, and that he wasn’t invited in the first place.
Dinner will be served at the event, but Stephen Colbert shared a funny story about how everyone had to wait for Anna Wintour to be seated before they could start eating.
And, like every other aspect, Wintour is heavily involved in the menu planning for each gala.
According to a source at Vogue, Anna Wintour once prohibited certain foods from being served at events. She didn’t want anything that could get stuck in guests’ teeth (like parsley), cause bad breath (too much garlic), or, most importantly, stain their clothes. As a result, appetizers are designed to be easy to eat.
As a longtime observer of Anna Wintour’s events, I’ve noticed she really likes the food to fit the overall vibe of whatever she’s hosting. It’s not a hard and fast rule, though – sometimes it just doesn’t quite come together, and that’s okay too!
Sean Driscoll, the owner of Glorious Food and the caterer for every Met Gala from 1995 to 2018, recalls that serving lamb potpies at the 2011 event themed “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” led to numerous requests for alternative meals, as many guests didn’t want to eat it.
People also expect the food to be visually appealing. Director Andrew Rossi, known for The First Monday in May, was surprised by how much attention to detail went into it. He observed Anna Wintour at a tasting, noting that she even used her phone to research how different dishes were presented.
It’s unclear why Anna Wintour banned selfies and social media at the event back in 2015 – no official reason was ever given. The decision remains a mystery, adding to the already exclusive and envy-inducing atmosphere.
A source at Vogue told Pret-a-Reporter that everyone invited to the gala received a warning: taking photos or videos with phones and posting on social media wouldn’t be allowed inside the event.
The magazine didn’t offer a statement about the report, but a source shared with The Hollywood Reporter that the issue was “strictly about keeping guests safe and ensuring they have a good time at the event.”
In the documentary The First Monday in May, Anna Wintour visibly disapproved of phone use at the Met Gala. There’s a scene where she learns a male celebrity—whose identity was hidden on request—had decided to attend despite initially saying he wouldn’t. She then asked Ward Durrett, “Could he please not be on his phone the whole time?”
Ward Durrett told The Post that Anna prefers classic, social gatherings. She enjoys dinner parties where guests actually talk to one another, and while they don’t interrupt conversations, they might politely point out if someone is being disruptive.
Even though Anna Wintour doesn’t allow photos, celebrities have often ignored the rule. A well-known example is Kylie Jenner’s bathroom selfie taken at the 2017 Met Gala.
The event is strictly for adults – you need to be 18 or older to attend. This rule was confirmed by organizers after Maddie Ziegler shared she couldn’t go to the 2018 Met Gala because she was only 15. She explained to The Hollywood Reporter, “I can’t go, because I’m not old enough!”
The event is not suitable for anyone under 18, the organizer told The Hollywood Reporter. This age restriction began this year.
Before 2018, the Met Gala had seen some very young attendees, including Jaden and Willow Smith, who went in 2016 when they were 17 and 15. Elle Fanning first attended at just 13 years old, and Hailee Steinfeld made her debut at 14 in 2011.
It looks like there’s a way for younger celebrities to attend: if a parent goes with them, it’s allowed.
Anna Wintour has the final say on what everyone wears to the Met Gala, but attendees don’t technically need her approval – though she does know what everyone is wearing when they arrive on the red carpet.
According to Andre Leon Talley in The First Monday in May, it’s as if each celebrity was assigned a designer to create their gown for the event. Riccardo Tisci, formerly of Givenchy, who designed outfits for Beyoncé and Madonna at the 2016 Met Gala, explained that each designer chooses a celebrity who best embodies their artistic vision.
That means that, for the most part, a celebrity’s look is up to the designer that invited them.
The annual gala always centers around a theme—for example, 2024’s theme was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and in 2019 it was “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” However, guests and designers have plenty of freedom in how they choose to express that theme.
So, how does the Met Gala choose its yearly theme? It’s a process that begins more than a year in advance. Andrew Bolton, the dedicated curator of The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, selects a topic that reflects what’s happening in culture right now.
I aim to focus on subjects that feel current and reflect a change in culture, or one that’s just beginning,” he told Vogue. “We always want a variety of exhibitions—some that explore themes across different eras, and others that focus on the work of a single designer. We really try to keep things interesting and diverse.”
Once he’s found the right piece, he shows it to the museum director for approval. Then, Anna Wintour gives her final approval roughly a year in advance.
The curator, a highly respected figure in the British art world, said it would be very challenging to manage without her colleague’s help. Anna is responsible for finding sponsors for the exhibition. The curator often has ideas, but they aren’t always the kind that attract funding, as sponsors tend to prefer more mainstream or popular concepts.
As a longtime Met Gala fan, I can tell you that after the excitement of the red carpet and the climb up those famous steps, things move inside to the receiving line. You finally get to meet Anna Wintour and the night’s co-chairs – this year it’s Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams! It always takes a while, with everyone doing the air kiss and making small talk, but it’s a moment I always look forward to.
Oh my gosh, after the red carpet, we get to sneak into the actual exhibit at The Costume Institute before anyone else! Can you even imagine?! Then it’s just… a whirlwind of food, chatting with everyone, and trying to spot all my favorite stars. And the best part? They have performances! Like, seriously, Rihanna and Lady Gaga have PERFORMED there before! It’s a total dream come true!
When it comes to the Met Gala, a major source of planning stress is always securing and coordinating the entertainment.
As shown in the documentary The First Monday in May, Ward Durrett struggled to afford Rihanna’s fee for the annual gala.
Rihanna’s payment is roughly double what we’ve paid any artist before,” she revealed, after speaking with her team. “They’ve made it clear they won’t negotiate a lower price.”
Eventually, Wintour was called to step in and figure out the situation.
In addition to the security provided by the Museum for the red carpet, celebrities can also bring their personal security teams.
As a lifestyle expert, I’ve seen firsthand how seriously we take security at these events, and honestly, it’s all about the jewelry! One year, Taylor Swift showed up with around $3.5 million in jewels, and Karlie Kloss once wore a stunning $2.5 million worth of Forevermark diamonds – it’s definitely a high-value situation, and we ensure everything is well-protected.
Because the diamonds are extremely valuable, Forevermark keeps the details of its security process confidential. However, a security guard is always present until the diamonds are returned safely. They also use extra security like RFID trackers and video surveillance, a Forevermark representative told TopMob News.
So yes, Ocean’s 8 definitely got that aspect of the Met Gala right.
Because most Met Gala dresses are either made specifically for the event or borrowed from designers’ collections, celebrities rarely get to keep them. Usually, the gowns are returned to the design house and added to their archives.
In 2018, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing partnered with Bono’s RED organization to auction off one-of-a-kind clothing items worn by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez, and Trevor Noah. All the money raised from the auction went to the Global Fund.
At the 2021 event, guests had to wear masks and show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. This caused rapper Nicki Minaj to skip the event.
As a huge fan, I saw Nicki post that she’s getting a lot of pressure to get vaccinated because of the Met Gala. But she made it clear it won’t be for the Met! She’s a smart woman and wants to do her own research first, which I totally respect – she’s working on that right now. She also reminded us to stay safe, and specifically said to wear the good masks – the ones with the two strings that really secure around your head and face, not the loose ones!
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2026-05-04 10:19