The Met Gala, more formally addressed as the Costume Institute Gala, but the regulars call it the “Met Ball”, is the annual fundraising gala for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute that has progressively become more extravagant and the ensembles even more flamboyant. However, the men also made some strong statements as well at this year’s gala and we take a look at some of the best looks.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The inaugural Met Gala was held at the Waldorf Astoria in 1948 when the publicist Eleanor Lambert conceived the event as a way to fundraise for the Costume Institute at the metropolitan Museum of Art. Things changed a bit in 1972 when the editor of vogue at the time Diana Vreeland was hired as a consultant by the Costume Institute and encouraged them to curate more ambitious pieces and used the gala to promote upcoming exhibitions and as a party for society’s elite and it quickly became the crown jewel of New York social events developing a reputation for being a luxurious, highly detailed affair. With everyone from fashion designers, A-list celebrities, to politicians making appearances as the event the popularity continued to grow and now not being invited can be viewed as a ‘shun’ from that same elite society. Anna Wintour took over in 1999 and shifted the theme to more of a celebrity driven event and when she recruited Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace in 1995 it was on. The men had to step their game up as well, not quite as flamboyant but certainly had to veer from what they would wear to the Oscars. The addition of Beyonce and Rihanna as co-chairs in 2013 and 18’ respectively added an entirely newer, younger, and trending vibe to the event and increased the following exponentially. With both the guest list, themes, and outfits being more extravagant, if not ostentatious each year. For those of you who would love to be one of the Six to Seven hundred people on the guest list just once, keep in mind that the tickets cost 30k per person and seventy-five thousand dollars for a table and raised twelve million dollars for the Met.