1995: GOOP in Calvin Klein

This is a very simple tank dress that fits right in with a lot of what CK has done over the years. Looking tight-lipped and perhaps as if she was dragged there is also right in line with a lot of what GOOP has done over the years. (She famously complained about how boring the Met is, only to go back after she got Conde to agree to a GOOP magazine. I wonder if that ever happened.)

1995

Brandy! This year's theme was Haute Couture -- broad, kinda boring -- so she seems to have brought a dose of The Jetsons to it.

1995: Kate Moss, Calvin Klein, and Christy Turlington

Yep, this is all about right.

1995: SJP

We were still three years off from Sex and the City, the show that for a time made her synonymous with New York. She looks like she isn't sure why she was invited.

1995: Shalom Harlow

I miss her.

1995: Claudia Schiffer and David Copperfield

I STILL pause and reflect on these two happening. I don't think I could take David Copperfield seriously, in a romantic way? He might be the nicest person on the planet, but he also looks like he's going to pull a fluffy white cat out of my pants and then throw glitter while whispering, "MAGICCCCC."

1995: Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley

She is COMMITTED to that slit.

1995: Elle Macpherson

I didn't recognize her at first. I needed Informative Caption to help me.

1995: Roshumba

Just say no to satin pants.

1995

Donatella believes you should say no to pants, PERIOD.

1995

"Wait, the theme was HAUTE COUTURE? Why am I in my jammies?"

1996: Princess Di

Diana chose a John Galliano slip dress for this Dior-themed exhibit. The Gala at this time was in December, so this landed two months into Galliano's new position leading Dior. I would be lying if I said I thought it looked good on her -- Diana's fashion has never been my thing, other than as a pure  spectacle and a time capsule -- but BOY did she bring out the good choker.

1996

This was the only time Diana ever attended. She's here with Liz Tilberis, the Harper's Bazaar editor in chief who was in and out of cancer treatments for most of her 1992-99 tenure (she died in 1999). Tilberis was also a co-chair, and it's intriguing to me to have the EIC of a rival magazine co-chairing this. I wonder if she and Anna were friendly, or if this was established before Anna took over somehow, or what.

1996

The Assassination of Gianni Versace covered this moment, where Donatella showed up in this as a way of announcing herself to be a major fashion force. It's a bra and belts, y'all! Then again, she DID take over his brand and it's thriving, so.

1996

Jewel is like, "Uh, I seriously just thought I was going to the museum...?"

1996

Here, Iman is partying it up with LACROIX, DARLING.

1996

And Amber Valletta is dressed as an altar girl.

1996

Barbara Walters LOVES LAME. The golder the better.

1996

Linda Evangelista and Kyle MacLachlan are also a delightful trip down memory lane, although boy is her dress a snore.

1997

Oh shit. Well. I should have been careful what I wished for, eh?

1997: Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow

Ashley looks great. Gwyneth looks like she's wearing something that cost $14.99.

1997: Minnie Driver

"Gwyneth and I shop at the same mall, apparently. Dreadfully sorry."

1997

Truly this is OTT in a way few people could consider, and Iman is one of them. And even she is getting swallowed up by the collar and the crown.

1997: Salma Hayek

She looks awesome in that apron.

1997: Cher

The theme this year was Versace, in memoriam, and I don't know how many people actually wore it but this feels like it could have been by him. It's very... lopsided.

1997: Madonna

I assume she's wearing this during her quarantine, if she isn't driving around breathing the Covid air, as she announced online.

1997: Debi Mazar

I keep thinking for a second that she doesn't have arms below her sleeves, because they blend in. She really DOES look like a vintage magazine model.

1997

That is not how I thought vests worked.

1997: Bai Ling

I'm weirdly proud to see Bai Ling there, looking only lightly wacky -- like, it's VERY Met-appropriate.

1997: Renee Zellweger

Great lipstick, but what a punt on the dress. I do have to keep reminding myself that people didn't go NEARLY as big in this era. I'd love to see Renee at a newer one just going ALL OUT.

1998: Liv Tyler

Not, perhaps, her best hair moment.

1998: Sigourney Weaver

Everything seems to be in order here.

1998: Sarah Paulson

But look at THIS doe-eyed lady. At this time, Sarah had done American Gothic, and not a lot else. Congrats on the big ticket. Maybe she was doing theatre at the time?

1998: Fergie

She looks like she's trying to be as blandly respectable as possible.

1998: Gretchen Mol

This feels lightly Betty Grable. She has always had such a period-piece face.

1998: Chlo Sevigny

BLESS YOU, SEVIGNY. You brought the wacky from such an early age. This is just horrendous, and I am applauding at my seat. It's just the classic fug we needed.

1998: Claudia Schiffer

That color combination, plus satin, is giving me a hangover feeling and I'm not even drinking.

1998: Monica

The boy is HERS, Brandy! Watch out!

1998: Alan Cumming

He would ALSO wear this today, albeit I think with a different and louder shirt underneath. Hey, we were all still finding ourselves in 1998

1999

Kim Cattrall is here with Randolph Duke (I don't know if she's WITH him, or just accompanying him). The theme is Rock Style, and while I don't know if this qualifies, the bodice IS sexy.

1999: Amber Valletta

This has a sexy Bowi feel. I'm into it.

1999: Liv Tyler and Stella McCartney

I am just rolling my eyes at this. I might have found it funnier if, at the time, I didn't think Stella was trading on that McCartney name without a lot to back it up. (I still don't love her work, but I do think she's grown into someone who's led the way in confronting environmental issues in fashion while so many others are/were plugging their ears and singing LA LA LA.)

1999

On theme, if the theme was, "The Fashion Passions of Elizabeth Hurley."

1999: Kyra Sedgwick

"My husband is in a rock band, and he likes these pants, so it counts!"

1999: Jennifer Love Hewitt

Oh, no, Jennifer, it's actually better if we can't see the boots.

1999: Gwyneth

I like this on her a lot. She has Resting Bored Face, I think.

1999: Christina Ricci

This must have been a color of the year. I think I might be able to see nipple? That's arguably the most ROCK STYLE part of this.

1999: Gisele

It's pretty, I suppose.

1999: Julianne Moore

Oh, but this is NOT. This is in the dictionary under "Drab."

1999: J.Lo and Puffy

What ONE thing would you whisper to Jennifer Lopez if you could time-travel to her here? I thought about warning her off Affleck, but honestly, I might just say the word "GIGLI" instead.

1999: Monica

This seems like it was really lovely. I wish I could see it better

1999: Charlize

Are those beige sandals? This whole look is just enormously College Formal in 1999, truly.

1999: Lil' Kim

This is definitely taking liberties with the term "style."

1999: Whitney and half of Bobby

Whitney. I wish you had a real shirt under there, because that jacket is COOL. Maybe I would go back and tell J.Lo something to help WHITNEY. YES. What would it be? I don't know, but that would be using pop culture powers for good, I think.

Met Gala, 1995-99: Here's When Things Got Star-Studded

Anna's tenure as co-chair was the big tipping point.