If ever there was an excuse to transform, it would be for the Costume Institute’s annual Met Gala. And while slipping into an extraordinary sartorial confection can do wonders, directional hair and make-up is an essential part of the equation. In fact, there are plenty of instances where hair and make-up catapulted a star’s look into bold new territory.
In the ’80s, Cher traded in her choppy raven mullet for a sleek updo that highlighted her vivid violet gaze, fuchsia cheeks, and dazzling winged ear adornments, while in the ’90s, Iman bucked the decade’s minimalism with deep ruby red lips and her caramel lengths woven into a towering braided updo topped off with a sparkling brooch. In 2004, Amber Valletta tapped into the “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century” theme by taking beauty cues from Marie Antoinette with a powdered blonde pouf and swirls of rosy blush.
A theme that begged for a renegade turnout was 2013’s “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” where Miley Cyrus gelled up her platinum pixie to spiky, electric-shock effect, and January Jones bleached her brows to punctuate her graphic Siouxsie Sioux–inspired eye makeup. No detail is too insignificant for Rihanna, of course, who shut down the 2015 “China: Through the Looking Glass” red carpet wearing a gilded crystal floral headpiece atop her crimson bob in that yellow robe number by Chinese designer Guo Pei. Looking toward the future while musing on 2016’s “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology” theme, Taylor Swift unveiled a white hot dye job, while Ciara opted for a shimmering silver shade for a metallic gleam.
While every year calls for its own special flair, leave it to 2020’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion” to up the ante on drama and theatrics. From Zendaya’s Joan of Arc tribute with her atomic red bob to Lily Collins’s ode to Priscilla Presley on her wedding day to Elvis—sporting a teased, floral-adorned bouffant—playing dress-up was practically the name of the game. Finally, in honour of last year’s theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” Billie Eilish unveiled a new Marilyn Monroe-inspired look complete with soft feline flicks and platinum blonde bob, while both Irina Shayk and Jasmine Tookes traded in their bombshell lengths for edgy pixie cuts that played up their sculptural features. Ahead of this year’s event, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” here’s a look back at the Met Gala’s top beauty transformations of all time.
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Cher
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Costumes of Royal India,” 1985
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Iman
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala “Christian Dior” exhibition, 1996
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Amber Valetta
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century,” 2004
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Miley Cyrus
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” 2013
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January Jones
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” 2013
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Rihanna
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “China: Through the Looking Glass,” 2015
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Taylor Swift
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” 2016
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Katy Perry
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” 2016
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Ciara
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” 2016
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Cara Delevingne
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between,” 2017
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Dree Hemingway
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between,” 2017
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Zendaya
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination,” 2018
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Lily Collins
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” 2019
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Lupita Nyong'o
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” 2019
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Irina Shayk
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” 2021
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Gigi Hadid
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” 2021
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Amandla Stenberg
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” 2021
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Billie Eilish
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” 2021
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Jasmine Tookes
Right: At the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute gala exhibition of “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” 2021
This story originally appeared in Vogue.com.
