--- title: Photos: Metropolitan Costume Institute's Gala in 1960 description: In 1960, the Metropolitan Costume Institute held its ball in the Museum's Great Hall for the first time--and elegance ruled the evening. canonical: https://time.com/3834861/met-gala-1960/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-04T14:00:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:24.731Z og:title: See Photos From the Met Gala in 1960 og:description: In 1960, the Metropolitan Costume Institute held its ball in the Museum's Great Hall for the first time--and elegance ruled the evening. og:url: https://time.com/3834861/met-gala-1960/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6276a7cd77711ac2/6987ecc32dce0115019e17ba/150424-met-gala-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2268 og:image:height: 1276 og:image:alt: Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Photos From the Met Gala in 1960 twitter:description: In 1960, the Metropolitan Costume Institute held its ball in the Museum's Great Hall for the first time--and elegance ruled the evening. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6276a7cd77711ac2/6987ecc32dce0115019e17ba/150424-met-gala-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos From the Met Gala in 1960 > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 4, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  Guests dance at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Guests dance at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. May 4, 2015 2:00 PM UTC On Monday evening, Hollywood’s brightest stars will don their most dramatic, their strangest and their most avant-garde looks for the Met Gala, the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Getups in recent years have drawn inspiration from flappers and figure skaters, brides and birds. But in 1960, when the ball was held in the museum’s Great Hall for the first time, guests did not appear to be competing for any weirdest-dressed lists. Pearls, fur and big skirts ruled the evening as guests danced, LIFE wrote, “beneath the gaze of an Egyptian sphinx … and under medieval gonfalons.” _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. The first ball at the Met's Great Hall. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests dance at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests dance at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ladies take a break at the Met Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests dance in front of a statue of Aphrodite at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests at the first Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A woman admires the dress on a mannequin, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Gala guests with a statue of the Sphinx, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women model costume dresses at the ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women modeling white dresses at the ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Models pose in elaborate dresses, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Dancing nose to nose at the Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests at the first Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Guests at the first Metropolitan Museum Fashion Ball, 1960. 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