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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Hannah Marriott

The Met Ball: dress codes decoded – in pictures

Anna Wintour Met Ball
2008: Anna Wintour’s frightening frock

As a dress code, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy feels right up Anna Wintour’s boulevard. This other-worldly Chanel couture number is just the thing for terrifying minions.

Photograph: New York Daily News Archive/NY Daily News via Getty Images
Kate Moss at the Met Ball
2009: Kate Moss’s turban

The theme was The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion, and Mossy is with Marc Jacobs – so that’s the muse bit ticked off – matching her long pewter frock and heels with a shiny turban, the most alpha of headgear items.

Photograph: Matt Baron/BEI/REX
Madonna Met Ball
2009: Madonna’s rabbit ears

You would never guess it, but Madonna is working to the same dress code as Mossy. Swap the rabbit ears for a pair of plastic dragons and this look is similar to her recent adventures as Game of Thrones’ Daenerys Targaryen. It's not wildly dissimilar to her Punk: Chaos and Couture outfit in 2013, either. In other words, Madonna has a preferred fancy dress silhouette and she is sticking with it.

Photograph: Sipa Press/REX
Marc Jacobs Met Ball
2012: Marc Jacobs' lace dress

What is the menswear interpretation of the theme Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations? A see-through dress over white boxer shorts, of course. 'I just didn’t want to wear a tuxedo and be boring,' he said at the time. Sure.

Photograph: Gregory Pace/BEI/REX
Carine Roitfeld Met Ball
2013: Carine Roitfeld’s Givenchy T-shirt dress

Roitfeld never looks as though she has tried too hard – even at the Met Gala. This, her interpretation of Punk: Chaos to Couture brought a touch of Gallic chic to a red carpet otherwise packed with safety pins, spiky hair, distressed tartan and very wobbly high heels. Tres bien, as always.

Photograph: Larry Busacca/Getty Images
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