Every spring, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in New York City transforms into the ultimate fashion exhibit: showcasing a broad range of celebrities as almost walking works of art for a Monday night event known as the “Met Gala”.
![Guo Pei / China: Through the Looking Glass - Rihanna’s Met Gala, 2015. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/BB284E86-57CE-46B4-A103-23CC76ACFA5F.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
Taking place on the first Monday of May, spectators range from fashion designers and journalists —to a worldwide social media audience that can’t help but marvel at the night’s extraordinary ensembles.
![Cher and Paulette Betts, 1974. Theme: Romantic and Glamorous Hollywood Design. (Credit: Ron Galella/WireImage)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/CB333377-1306-4F3F-8614-420CA6D588C2.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
It’s a grand tradition, and Monday night’s event was no exception; particularly because the theme was “camp.”
![Met Gala, 2019: Cardi B (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/C41E331B-47E1-4281-9033-3EF0E0DA3ADE.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
No, not summer camp.
This year’s theme (in celebration of the museum’s new “Camp: Notes on Fashion” exhibit) was inspired by writer Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on Camp.”
“It is not a natural mode of sensibility, if there be any such. Indeed the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration,” Sontag wrote, and concluded, “The ultimate Camp statement: it’s good because it’s awful.”
![Met Gala, 2019: Kylie Jenner & Kendall Jenner. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/E7E781BC-7E64-4F4E-BDB2-C2D3221EAA35.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
From models, singers, actors, and even social media stars: Celebrities certainly made statements on the Met Gala carpet this year! (05.06.19)
Here are five stunning looks from this year’s Met Gala (in no particular order):
![Met Gala, 2019: Naomi Campbell. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/5BBBF20C-9ED3-4E6D-837A-3364DFC4FD3B.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
![Met Gala, 2019: Kendall Jenner. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/C629F206-2B69-4B66-A71B-DBBC6B0D7F86.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
![Met Gala, 2019: Joan Smalls. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/DFB63AB0-7D5F-4C15-A65C-5DF1C27DDA43.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
![Met Gala, 2019: Ciara. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/762CF351-1B0C-4369-8155-3A0C33B2F089.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
![Met Gala, 2019: Alexa Chung. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/4B45D7A9-A5AD-4EED-B3CE-DE42932D0AA9.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
Our absolute favorite look from Monday’s Met goes to Kendall Jenner’s Victoria’s Secret-style ensemble:
![Met Gala, 2019: Kendall Jenner. (Getty Images)](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/F681AB4D-50DD-4BB9-B041-ACCEB2F0ACCD.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)
Check out all of the attendees and their over-the-top outfits on The Met Gala’s Official Instagram Page!
It’s okay RiRi – you can sit this one out.
We have plenty of past Rihanna Met looks to hold us over..
Until next year!
![](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/d9ab8756-247f-4393-88e6-c22a9c4b7409/6f7bfbbf-6728-4919-8516-d63ac96b0127.jpeg/:/rs=w:1280)