Beyoncé always comes to slay on a red carpet, but the singer’s Met Gala looks have always been particularly noteworthy.
That’s due in part to how she feels walking up the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “You want everybody to say how great everything is, but we kind of have a system where as long as you feel happy and confident, it shows,” Ty Hunter, who was Beyoncé’s stylist for 18 years, told Women’s Wear Daily in 2017. “That’s why when Beyoncé’s on the carpets, she has so much confidence. She felt comfortable and loved the dress and showed it to the world.”
Life & Style takes a look back at Queen Bey’s evolving style throughout the years.
2008
For her Met Gala debut at 2008’s “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy,” Beyoncé looked elegant in a strapless pale-pink Armani Privé gown. Featuring a sweetheart neckline and ribboning down the front, the singer went for simplicity at her first Met Gala — but it would only be a matter of time before Queen Bey stole the show on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
2011
Beyoncé turns up the heat for 2011’s theme of “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.” Dressed in a curve-hugging Emilio Pucci mermaid gown, the singer stunned in her black sequined dress with gold embroidery. A collar and lace-trimmed cutout add more flair to the already extravagant ensemble.
2012
Beyoncé can make anything work, even at a moment’s notice. According to WWD, on the day of the 2012 Met Gala, “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations,” the superstar (who had recently given birth to daughter Blue Ivy and was rehearsing The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour) told then-stylist Ty Hunter she wanted to go, and they cooked up this stellar and stylish look in a matter of hours. The Givenchy gown features a nude bodice with black lace that flows down to a very long purple train.
two thousand and thirteen
Is it getting hot in here? For that year’s theme of “Punk: Chaos to Couture,” Beyoncé lit up the red carpet in a fiery Givenchy gown with matching thigh-high, high-heeled boots. The singer added some extra flair with a black python belt with gold eyelets that sat just below her corset. “It was fire,” said stylist Ty Hunter of the ensemble, per Business Insider. “It was hot.”
2014
The following year at “Charles James: Beyond Fashion,” Beyoncé turned heads in a heavily embellished black Givenchy Haute Couture gown. Featuring a deep V-cut neckline and a thigh-high slit, the ethereal ensemble was made complete with a short veil and red-and-black statement earrings that matched her deep red lip.
2015
This Swarovski-embellished Givenchy gown, worn for 2015’s theme of “China: Through the Looking Glass,” may have looked light like a feather, but it was actually one of the heaviest outfits she’s ever worn to the Met Gala. “A lot of the rhinestones and gems, the rocky crystals, they were very heavy,” stylist Ty Hunter told WWD. “It looked like the lightest ones because she looked naked under it, but it was one of the heaviest.”
2016
At that year’s Met Gala, which had a theme of “Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology,” Beyoncé rocked a nude Givenchy gown made of latex fabric. The puff-sleeve gown reportedly featured 2,000 pearl embellishments, but stylist Ty Hunter called it “the easiest dress,” adding: “I didn’t really have to do too much.”
