Every Time Blake Lively Stole the Met Gala Red Carpet
Year after year, Blake Lively owns the Met Gala red carpet—ever since her 2008 debut in a strapless black gown for the Costume Institute’s Superheroes: Fashion And Fantasy.
Blake Lively treats the Met Gala like it is her home court. Different theme every year, same result: she shows up and everyone else has to recalibrate.
The first swing: 2008
Lively hit the Met red carpet for the first time in 2008, when the annual Costume Institute fundraiser took over the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City with the theme 'Superheroes: Fashion And Fantasy. ' She went classic and sharp: a strapless black Ralph Lauren gown. Not the loudest look in the room, but it did exactly what it needed to do.
The one that stopped traffic: 2018
A decade later, she did the full movie- star entrance at 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination' and basically shut the place down. Versace built her a highly ornate look with thousands of jewels worked into the bodice, the kind of detail work you only notice when the cameras zoom way in. She even rolled up in a party bus, because why not go full event mode on Fashion's Biggest Night.
'This year's maybe my favorite dress ever,' she told Vogue in March 2018. 'They've already worked on it for 600 hours, and it's not done.'
There was also a family Easter egg: the clutch she carried had the letters 'B,' 'R,' 'J' and 'I' on it, nodding to Blake, husband Ryan Reynolds, and their daughters James and Inez. For the timeline people: they later added daughter Betty in October 2019, and welcomed another child in January 2024.
From guest to host: 2022
After years of nailing the brief, the Gossip Girl alum and A Simple Favor star was tapped as one of the Met Gala co-chairs in May 2022, alongside Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Regina King. The event was framed around 'In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,' celebrating the breadth of American style through history, with a dress code pitched as 'gilded glamour.' Translation: lots of drama, lots of shine.
Blake's Met run, quick hits
- 2008: Debut at the Met in strapless black Ralph Lauren for 'Superheroes: Fashion And Fantasy.'
- 2018: Versace masterpiece for 'Heavenly Bodies' with thousands of jewels on the bodice; arrived by party bus; carried a clutch marked 'B, R, J, I' for Blake, Ryan, James, and Inez; told Vogue the gown had already clocked 600 hours of work and counting.
- 2019 and 2024: Family timeline update after that clutch moment — daughter Betty born October 2019; another child arrived January 2024.
- 2022: Elevated to Met Gala co-chair with Ryan Reynolds, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Regina King; theme described as 'In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,' with a 'gilded glamour' dress code.