The Most Inappropriate Outfits In Met Gala History

As the first Monday in May approaches, we, like most fashion-watchers, start to fizz. Fashion's most celebrated night is on the horizon and we expect the 2026 Met Gala attendees to deliver big-time on the theme of "Costume Art." As New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art explains, "The Gala dress code will be 'Fashion is Art,' inviting guests to express their own relationship to fashion as an embodied art form and celebrate the countless depictions of the dressed body throughout art history." So how will co-chairs Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, and Venus Williams interpret it? We're expecting a lot of skin and references to famous works of art.

Before that, however, we'll take a look back at stunning Met Gala looks we'll never forget. Conversely, we'll also reflect on some outfits that missed the mark, including the most inappropriate outfits in the history of the gala. Some were culturally insensitive, many showed questionable taste, and others came across as down-right arrogant. So while we're fizzing about the upcoming gala, we're also looking back at these seven looks that fizzled.

Sarah Jessica Parker takes the theme of the Met Gala very seriously, revealing that she thoroughly researches what it represents and how she will interpret it. For the 2015 affair, "China: Through the Looking Glass," she chose a sculptural Philip Treacy headpiece. As stylist David Yi pointed out on Mashable, SJP appeared to channel a "dragon lady," the derogatory term "used to describe strong Asian women but was a pejorative that made them into villains." It seems the "And Just Like That..." star didn't fully think this one through. She's still a pop culture style icon you should let influence your wardrobe, but just not this time.

For the 2024 "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" theme, Doja Cat decided to stand out from the crowd in a wet T-shirt looking dress, which was actually covered in hair gel to create the effect. Critics threw a wet blanket on the 'fit. On a night when design houses are displaying works of fashion art that took hundreds of hours of work to create, this felt lazy. It was also sheer, with a black thong beneath, which many deemed distasteful. "Do people not look in the mirror before leaving home?" one Instagram user asked.

It was 2018: The theme for the Met Gala was "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination," the #MeToo movement was in full swing, and the accusations against Harvey Weinstein continued to pile up. And Scarlett Johansson decided to wear Marchesa, the brand co-designed by Weinstein's then-wife Georgina Chapman (though she'd left him by that time). The actor was the first A-lister to wear the brand on a major red carpet after the fall-out. Many questioned the appropriateness and insensitivity that it displayed, but Johansson and Met maven Anna Wintour defended the choice.

To celebrate the Met Gala's 1999 "Rock Style" theme, Stella McCartney took white Hanes T-shirts to a vintage shop to be restyled. Liv Tyler later told Vogue, "It wasn't really appropriate that we wore those shirts. Officially, we weren't following the honors of the dress code." The slogan on the tops, "Rock Royalty," felt arrogant. To call yourself royalty — McCartney's dad is Beatle Paul McCartney and Tyler's dad is Aerosmith's Steven Tyler — is a bit haughty, even if your fathers are some of the most celebrated musicians of all time.

Last year, we called out the 2025 Met Gala outfits that seriously had to hurt, and if we were reaching back into the gala archives, we'd include Priyanka Chopra Jonas' outfit from 2018. For the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" theme, she wore a burgundy Ralph Lauren gown. But what you couldn't see beneath was a corset cinching her into the outfit. She later revealed to People's digital show "People in 10" that it was so tight she could barely eat anything at the sit-down dinner. Being so tightly strapped into your clothes that you can barely eat or breathe? Seems inappropriately painful and unnecessary.

Leave it to the Kardashian-Jenners to treat the Met Gala stairs as their personal runway to shock and awe onlookers. Kendall Jenner took to the 2017 fundraiser in La Perla, a brand known for its lingerie, not its clothing; a sentiment that Jenner put an exclamation point behind as she wore a net-like dress that revealed her full backside and a strip of black thong beneath. Folks were critical: "Have some decency," wrote one Instagrammer. Another added, "This is not a dress. It is a veil over a naked person."

There are certain Met Gala rules that all attendees must follow, like no smoking in the bathrooms. While following the theme is not an absolute must, it's strongly encouraged that celebs embrace the ethos of the night. So, when Gwyneth Paltrow arrived at the punk-themed 2013 gala wearing a decidedly un-punk pink Valentino gown, it felt inappropriately arrogant. At the time, Paltrow said (via Us Weekly), "I feel that we're all a bit old to be dressed punk. I didn't. I just went kind of normal." Isn't that missing the point of this event?