Many of the best moments from the Met Gala happen within the walls of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, mostly shielded from cell phones and the larger public. (Sorry, Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston—inevitably, not all that happens inside The Met stays there.) But there is plenty of action happening on the Met Gala red carpet—where celebrities make bold fashion statements, sometimes wildly interpreting that year’s dress code and other times bringing along a prop.

While some stars play it safe with their styling, it’s a lot more fun to revisit the showstoppers—gowns that caused a stir, outfit changes that made headlines, and a Met Gala moment that technically wasn’t, but, thanks to the internet, feels as if it was.

Before the Met Gala 2026, revisit the Met Gala moments that stopped the red carpet in its tracks.

Princess Diana attends: “Christian Dior,” 1996

When Lady Di ascended the stairs for her sole Met Gala appearance in December 1996, the former royal’s daring look shocked even its designer. After “trying to push for pink,” to no avail, John Galliano outfitted Diana in one of his pieces for Dior, a navy blue slip dress featuring lingerie-esque black lace straps and trim. “Fast-forward to the event, and I just remember her getting out of the car,” he recalled in the 2024 Hulu docuseries In Vogue: The 90s. “I couldn’t believe it. She’d ripped the corset out. She didn’t want to wear the corset.” She was “liberated,” Galliano said of Diana’s mentality in the months following her divorce from then Prince Charles. The bag that she carried at the Met Gala was eventually renamed the Lady Dior in her honor.