The Met Gala, known as fashion’s biggest night, features an exclusive guest list curated by Vogue’s former editor in chief, Anna Wintour.
The invitation-only event, where guests show off their elaborate bespoke looks to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, isn’t necessarily a setting where you’d expect to find politicians. However, some elected officials have made the cut over the years.
Some, such as Donald Trump, attended the Met Gala before entering politics. Others, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were invited after being elected to Congress.
Here’s what eight politicians have worn to the Met Gala.
Hillary Clinton, then a US senator, attended the Met Gala in 2001.
She wore a cheetah-print ball gown with a shiny shawl to the event, which was themed “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years.”
She returned to the Met Gala in 2022 wearing a custom Joseph Altuzarra gown.
The gown featured the embroidered names of 60 women she admired stitched into the neckline and hem.
Before he was president of the United States, Donald Trump was a fixture at the Met Gala.
The theme of the 2004 gala was “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century.”
Trump attended with his future wife, Melania Knaus — they got engaged that year.
Donald Trump appears to have worn the same tuxedo to the event every year, while Melania Trump’s outfits varied.
Melania Trump wore an Alexander McQueen ball gown in 2005.
While pregnant with Barron, Melania Trump wore a white empire-waist dress with a black belt.
The theme of the gala was “Anglomania.”
At the 2007 gala, Trump wore his black tuxedo with a bow tie, and Melania wore a shimmering gold dress.
Melania’s dress was designed by Roberto Cavalli.
Melania wore a hot pink Vera Wang gown in 2008.
The theme of the 2008 gala was “Superheroes.”
The tuxedo made another appearance at the 2009 gala, while Melania wore a black Dolce & Gabbana dress.
Guests dressed according to the theme “The Model As Muse.”
In 2010, Trump sported his go-to tux, and Melania wore a navy satin dress by Christian Siriano.
Siriano later stated that he would not dress Melania Trump while she served as first lady.
“I think for a while, everyone was trying to figure out what to do. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t have anything to do with [Melania], but she is representing what’s happening politically, and what’s happening politically right now is not really good for anyone,” he told Time magazine in 2017.
For the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Met Gala in 2011, Melania wore a gold dress by Reem Acra.
She paired the dress with a gold Alexander McQueen bag, while Trump wore his go-to tuxedo.
At their last Met Gala appearance, Trump wore what appears to be the same tuxedo, and Melania chose a dramatic white minidress with pointy shoulder pads.
The theme that year was “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.”
Before he was mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg attended the Met Gala with Mary Jane Salk in 1998.
The theme of the gala was “Cubism and Fashion.” Bloomberg wore a black tuxedo with a taupe bow tie and black shoes with gold detailing. Salk wore a black dress with a floral pattern and a black shawl.
While serving as mayor, he wore a charcoal suit to the 2007 gala.
The theme of the gala in 2007 was “Poiret: King of Fashion.”
These days, men at the Met Gala often skip suits in favor of something a little more unexpected.
Bloomberg wore a red bow tie to the event in 2008.
His partner, business executive Diana Taylor, wore a purple mermaid-style gown.
He exchanged the bow tie for a red tie in 2010, while Taylor wore a beaded gown in earth tones.
The theme of the evening was “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity.”
Bloomberg went with a blue bow tie in 2012, and Taylor wore a green dress with an accent at one shoulder.
The theme of the gala was “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.”
In 2014, he wore white-tie attire.
Diana Taylor wore a velvet burgundy dress, while Bloomberg’s daughter, Georgina, wore a blue gown.
He wore a tuxedo with a silver bow tie for the 2019 gala, themed “Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion.”
Georgina wore a black-and-white gown with a sparkly gold lining, while Taylor chose a black flapper-inspired look.
Bloomberg wore a tuxedo with a lavender bow tie in 2021.
Taylor wore a black dress with silver tinsel detailing.
In 2023, he accessorized with a checkered bow tie and a pin with the American and Ukrainian flags.
The theme of the 2023 gala was “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty.”
The former mayor chose a pink bow tie for the 2024 gala.
The theme of the 2024 Met Gala was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.”
Mitt Romney attended the Met Gala in 2018 with his wife, Ann Romney, while wearing a Brioni tuxedo he bought on Amazon.
Ann Romney didn’t want him telling anyone where he got his suit, but he couldn’t resist.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who represented New York’s 12th congressional district, attended the Met Gala that same year in an ornate black, silver, and gold gown.
The dress fit the theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & the Catholic Imagination.”
At the 2019 gala, she wore a neon-yellow Vassilis Zoulias dress with a firefighter jacket she vowed to wear until the passage of her bill for 9/11 first responders.
“Anytime anyone sees me wearing the coat, I can feel it tugging on their conscience, and I can feel their remembering,” Maloney told People magazine in 2019. “And many people then have to tell me where they were on 9/11. This jacket speaks louder and more eloquently than any speech that can be given on the floor.”
The Never Forget the Heroes Act became law in July 2019.
In 2021, Maloney wore a dress made of “equal rights for women” pennants in keeping with the theme, “Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion.”
The multicolored dress was covered with a cape made of individual pennants that said “equal rights for women.”
Maloney carried a purse that said “ERA YES,” voicing support for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio wore a blue velvet tuxedo by Brooklyn-based designer Dreu Beckemberg in 2021.
He walked the red carpet with his wife, Chirlane McCray, who wore an orange Fe Noel gown, and their son, Dante.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Bill Neidhardt, told Politico that de Blasio attended the gala to “highlight the return of the city’s fashion industry jobs.”
At her Met Gala appearance in 2021, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress with “tax the rich” written on it.
The Brother Vellies dress was strapless and had a tulle mermaid-style skirt.
“Tax the rich” was written on the back in large red type.
In March 2023, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Ocasio-Cortez’s staff didn’t pay for the rented dress, makeup, or hairstyling until February 2022, two days after the ethics agency reached out about the lack of payments, Business Insider’s Rebecca Cohen and Madison Hall reported.
In a statement, Ocasio-Cortez’s lawyer said the Democratic congresswoman “finds these [payment] delays unacceptable, and she has taken several steps to ensure nothing of this nature will ever happen again.”
“However, while regrettable, this matter definitively does not rise to the level of a violation of House Rules or of federal law. Even after OCE’s exhaustive review of the Congresswoman’s personal communications, there is no evidence that she ever intended to avoid these expenses,” the statement continued.
While serving as mayor of New York City, Eric Adams attended the Met Gala in 2022 with partner Tracey Collins.
Adams wore a jacket that read “End gun violence” on the back.
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