Every May, Anna Wintour plays hostess at the Met’s Costume Institute gala, which celebrates the museum’s newest clothing exhibition. This year, it’s “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations.” It’s been called the Oscars of the East Coast, and the guest list gets more star-studded every year. But while everyone’s always got an eye on what everyone else is wearing, there’s no one more closely watched than Wintour — and she rarely disappoints. We take a look back at her outfits at the last 10 galas.
2011
The super-slim Wintour knows what silhouette looks best on her: long and lean, as seen in this sequined Chanel gown. The gala and exhibit were dedicated to British designer Alexander McQueen, who had died in 2010, and many expected the British-born Wintour to wear him in homage. But as previous years prove,
you can’t keep this editrix
away from her Chanel! Video: Stars strut the red carpet for 2012 Met Gala
Gregorio T. Binuya/Everett Collection
2 of 10
2010
This year marked the opening of “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity,” and many thought Wintour would wear an American designer. Instead, she went for Chanel, with a white ruched dress and long silvery coat that riffed on the brand’s classic tweed jacket.
Marion Curtis/Starpix
3 of 10
2009
Wintour (with Kate Moss and honorary chairman Marc Jacobs)
sports a Chanel couture column dress with black fish-scale paillettes for the show entitled “The Model as Muse.”
Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com
4 of 10
2008
This futuristic padded Chanel outfit, worn for the opening of the “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” exhibit, was widely panned — but we think she pulled it off with daring panache.
Richard Young/startraksphoto.com
5 of 10
2007
Black sequins, silver-mirrored details and feathers at the hem and shoulders of this slim Chanel couture gown channeled the turn-of-the-century French designer Paul Poiret, whose work the museum was displaying.
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
6 of 10
2006
In a rare burst of color, Wintour chose a metallic Dior couture gown edged with embroidered pink floral details for the opening of “Anglomania.”
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
7 of 10
2005
For the opening of “Chanel,” Wintour wore a white satin couture dress by the namesake company, as well as an embellished jacket and pendant necklace with a tassel hanging from a string of pearls.
Chance Yeh/PatrickMcMullan.com
8 of 10
2005
Wintour hobnobbed with Richard Gere and wife Carey Lowell at the 2005 gala honoring Chanel.
Billy Farrell/PatrickMcMullan.com
9 of 10
2004
The diva donned a sparkly sculptural Dior couture piece that gave a nod to the 1700s for the opening of the exhibit “Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the 18th Century.”
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
10 of 10
2003
For the opening of the “Goddess” exhibition,” Wintour, with designer Tom Ford, was a feathery vision in white — and Dior couture.
Getty Images
