--- description: Celebrity culture's most decadently dumb evening is "un-fun" for stars—but it's perfect for the Internet age title: Met Gala Photos: Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga at Vogue Event image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ce7ba132e4c576c/6987ee5ea988ca3f6d6b083f/beyonce-met-dress.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Is Why the Met Gala is the Perfect Celebrity Event  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2015 3:31 PM CUT  Beyonce attends the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' Costume Institute Benefit Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City. Beyonce attends the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' Costume Institute Benefit Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City.George Pimentel—WireImage/Getty  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2015 3:31 PM CUT The Met Gala, an annual event notionally intended to raise funds and awareness of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, is once again dominating the entertainment-news cycle for a morning. Over the past several years, it’s come to occupy a similar space in the celebrity calendar as the Oscars or Golden Globes, a guaranteed headline-generator thanks to the attendees’ elaborate wardrobes. But at awards shows or movie press tours or other red-carpet opportunities of the sort, there’s something at stake _beyond_ fashion. When a star walks the red carpet at the Oscars, she’s there on the basis of her talents and abilities, and at a movie premiere, she’s specifically hoping to draw attention to her work onscreen. Stars are invited to the Met Gala, usually by the fashion companies with the wherewithal to buy seats, with the understanding that they’re little more than ornamentation. There’s no other prize to win but best-dressed. **MORE** [Twitter Has Some Fun With Sarah Jessica Parker’s Met Gala Headdress](http://time.com/3846428/met-gala-2015-sarah-jessica-parker/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") In large part because the event is run by _Vogue_ (a magazine in whose pages it’s considered a coup to appear), the stars who attend generally play ball with fairly extreme requests. The majority abide by themes that are often risky or unflattering; _Sex and the City_ actress Sarah Jessica Parker, for instance, wore an ornate red headpiece in honor (sort of!) of Chinese fashion last night, and when the theme was “punk” in 2013, she wore a fake mohawk. The Met Gala isn’t _exactly_ trolling the stars who attend, but it makes clear that—in the era of Reese Witherspoon’s [“Ask Her More”](http://therepresentationproject.org/askhermore-how-the-media-talks-to-women-on-the-red-carpet/ "undefined") movement encouraging stars to assert their intellectual sides on the red carpet—the whole point is to sublimate oneself to fashion. That’s not to say that stars’ personalities don’t come through, in one way or another, at the Met Gala. From Rihanna’s regal yellow gown to Beyoncé’s near-nude dress, the looks all were roughly on-brand for the stars inhabiting them. But the looks are all we have. Though there are reporters on the red carpet, they generally get next-to-nothing but the names of designers. The Met Gala is a nutrient-free event, perfect for the Internet age. It produces no meaningful takeaway, just a set of images of celebrities onto which one can project anything. **MORE** [5 Met Gala 2015 Looks You Need to See From Every Angle](http://time.com/3846476/met-gala-2015-gifs/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") In 2013, Gwyneth Paltrow, who’d bent the rules by wearing Pepto pink to the “punk” gala, made waves when she said that she’d never attend the event again. “It was so un-fun,” [the actress said](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/05/08/paltrow-met-ball-not-fun/2144353/ "undefined"). But who could be surprised by that? The event doesn’t even look like fun. It looks like the boiled-down essence of a celebrity’s job: Spending hours getting ready to be photographed, in order to provide grist for one’s fans and make other people money. All of them will be honored for the more edifying aspects of their jobs on other occasions, but for spectators, the Met Gala is a refreshing break from meaning in favor of pure celebrity. _Read next:_ [_These Are The Best Met Gala Memes_](http://time.com/3846797/met-gala-memes-rihanna-kim-kardashian/?iid=time%5Fspeed "undefined") ### See Celebrities on the Red Carpet at the 2015 Met Gala  Amal Clooney and George Clooney attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Rihanna attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Jay Z and Beyonce attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Jessica Chastain attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Kerry Washington attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Jennifer Lawrence attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Lizzy Caplan attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Lorde attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Anne Hathaway attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Elizabeth Banks attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Amanda Seyfried attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Donna Karan and Calvin Klein attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Solange attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Alison Brie attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Brie Larson attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Katy Perry attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Keri Russell attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Helen Mirren attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Katie Holmes attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Sarah Jessica Parker attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Anna Wintour attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Bee Shaffer attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Gong Li attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Wendi Murdoch attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Ansel Elgort attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Kenneth Cole attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  John Boyega attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Marissa Mayer attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Larry David attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Courtney Eaton attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Grace Coddington attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Allison Williams attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Jamie McCarthy—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Irina Shayk attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Emily Ratajkowski attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Dianna Agron attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Katie Couric attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Rachel Weisz attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Lily Collins attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Chloe Grace Moretz attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Taraji P. Henson and Alexander Wang attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Chloe Sevigny attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Kendall Jenner attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Claire Danes attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Dakota Johnson attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Kate Hudson attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Jennifer Connelly attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Cara Delevingne attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Adriana Lima attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Karlie Kloss and Gigi Hadid attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Emily Blunt attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Miranda Kerr attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Rita Ora attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Carey Mulligan attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Kate Beckinsale attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Lady Gaga attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Miley Cyrus and Zoe Kravitz attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Vanessa Hudgens attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Vera Wang and Selena Gomez attend the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images  Kate Mara attends the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Costume Institute Benefit Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York. Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3846945/met-gala-2015-celebrities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3846945/met-gala-2015-celebrities/"},"headline":"This Is Why the Met Gala is the Perfect Celebrity Event","datePublished":"2015-05-05T15:31:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:09.911Z","description":"Celebrity culture's most decadently dumb evening is \"un-fun\" for stars—but it's perfect for the Internet age","url":"https://time.com/3846945/met-gala-2015-celebrities/","keywords":["celebrities","Vogue","celebrity","sarah jessica parker","Met Gala"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ce7ba132e4c576c/6987ee5ea988ca3f6d6b083f/beyonce-met-dress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ce7ba132e4c576c/6987ee5ea988ca3f6d6b083f/beyonce-met-dress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beyonce attends the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' Costume Institute Benefit Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City.","caption":"Beyonce attends the 'China: Through The Looking Glass' Costume Institute Benefit Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"George Pimentel—WireImage/Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3846945/met-gala-2015-celebrities/","name":"This Is Why the Met Gala is the Perfect Celebrity Event"}}]}] ```