The 53 best Met Gala looks of all time

From a gloriously 1980s Cher in Bob Mackie to Rihanna in, well, everything ...

Kim Kardashian in the exact dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to US president John F Kennedy on his 45th birthday in 1962, at the 2022 Met Gala. EPA

Blake Lively in a colour-changing gown by Atelier Versace gown for the 2022 Met Gala. Getty Images

Iman in gold Dolce & Gabbana x Harris Reed at the 2021 Met Gala. Reuters

Zendaya in Dolce & Gabbana at the 2017 Met Gala. Getty Images

Rihanna in Comme des Garcons at the 2017 Met Gala. Getty Images

Billie Eilish in Oscar de la Renta at the 2021 Met Gala. EPA

Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles in Givenchy at the 2014 Met Gala. Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Naomi Campbell in Versace at the 1990 Met Gala. Getty Images

Sarah Jessica Parker in Alexander McQueen at the Met Gala in 2006. FilmMagic

Diana Ross and Patrice Calmettes attend the Met Gala in 1981. Getty Images

Priyanka Chopra in Ralph Lauren at the 2018 Met Gala. Reuters

Zendaya in Versace at the 2018 Met Gala. AFP

Carey Mulligan in Prada at the 2012 Met Gala. Getty Images

Diane Kruger in Hugo Boss, with Joshua Jackson, at the 2014 Met Gala. Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Gigi Hadid, in Tommy Hilfiger, and Zayn Malik at the 2016 Met Gala. WireImage

Rooney Mara in Givenchy at the 2013 Met Gala. FilmMagic

Yara Shahidi in gold Dior at the 2021 Met Gala. EPA

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in Givenchy at the 2013 Met Gala. Getty Images

Cate Blanchett wears Balenciaga to the Met Gala in 2007. Getty Images

Jeremy Scott and Cardi B in Moschino at the 2018 Met Gala. Reuters

Cara Delevingne in Burberry at the 2013 Met Gala. Getty Images

Bella Hadid in Givenchy at the 2016 Met Gala. FilmMagic

Rihanna in Guo Pei at the 2015 Met Gala. AFP

Blake Lively in Gucci at the 2014 Met Gala. Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Diana, Princess of Wales in John Galliano for Dior at the 1996 Met Gala. WireImage

Emma Stone in Thakoon at the 2014 Met Gala. Getty Images

Sarah Jessica Parker in H&M at the 2015 Met Gala. Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Lil Nas X in gold Versace at the 2021 Met Gala. Reuters

Priyanka Chopra in Ralph Lauren at the 2017 Met Gala. Getty Images

Taylor Swift in Louis Vuitton at the 2016 Met Gala. WireImage

Cher in Bob Mackie at the 1985 Met Gala. WireImage

David Bowie and Iman in Calvin Klein at the 2003 Met Gala. Getty Images

Scarlett Johansson in Calvin Klein at the 2004 Met Gala. Getty Images

Katy Perry in Prada at the 2016 Met Gala. Getty Images

Beyonce in Givenchy at the 2016 Met Gala. Getty Images

Amal Clooney in Richard Quinn at the 2018 Met Gala. EPA

Rihanna in Margiela at the 2018 Met Gala. Reuters

Beyonce in Pucci at the 2011 Met Gala. EPA

Gwyneth Paltrow in Valentino at the 2013 Met Gala. EPA

Jennifer Lopez in Gucci at the 2011 Met Gala. EPA

Cardi B in Thom Browne at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Diane Kruger in Jason Wu at the 2011 Met Gala. EPA

Anne Hathaway in Ralph Lauren at the 2015 Met Gala. EPA

Zendaya in Tommy Hilfiger at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Katy Perry in Versace at the 2018 Met Gala. EPA

Ariana Grande in Vera Wang at the 2018 Met Gala. EPA

Gemma Chan in Tom Ford at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell at the 2019 Met Gala. EpPA

Mila Kunis in Vera Wang at the 2010 Met Gala. EPA

Jared Leto in Gucci at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Katy Perry in Moschino at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Gigi Hadid in Michael Kors at the 2019 Met Gala. EPA

Jennifer Lopez in Balmain at the 2018 Met Gala. Reuters

The first Met Gala was held in 1948 as a fund-raising dinner for The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The gala began as a fairly subdued affair, with no red carpet in sight — it was more about society types in cocktail dresses making small talk and (hopefully) getting out their cheque books.

But in the mid-1970s, fashion editor Diana Vreeland came on to the scene, and it evolved into the celebrity-filled fashion smorgasbord we know today. Annual themes were introduced in 1973, and that's when we started to see actual costume play.

Vogue US editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, now synonymous with the event, became involved in 1995. Even then, the museum's stairs were grey and bare until the mid-2000s. That's when the production of the event really ramped up a notch, with the entire staircase turned into an extravagant flower-filled red carpet year-on-year.

And this year will be no different. The event returns on Monday, when fashion's most famous faces will walk the red carpet in flamboyant creations, designed especially for the event.

This year's theme is inspired by the exhibit, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, which looks at the late designer's "stylistic vocabulary as expressed in aesthetic themes that appear time and again in his fashions from the 1950s to his final collection in 2019". The show has been created by the Met's star curator, Andrew Bolton.

This year's five hosts are drawn from television (Emmy-winning writer, actor and producer Michaela Coel); the movies (Oscar-winning actor Penelope Cruz, who has worked with Chanel for more than 20 years); sports (recently retired tennis superstar Roger Federer); and music (Grammy-winning songstress Dua Lipa). Finally, there is Vogue's Anna Wintour running the whole thing as usual.

In anticipation of the return of fashion's big night out, we've looked back into the archives to revisit some of the greatest red carpet gowns worn to galas past.

Scroll through the gallery above to see some of the best Met Gala dresses from years gone by, from the likes of Lady Gaga, Rihanna and more.