The Best 50-Plus Looks at the 2026 Met Gala

Nicole Kidman, Angela Bassett and Cher brought confidence, drama and personal style to a red carpet built around one wide-open idea: ‘Fashion is Art’

Donna Freydkin,

AARP

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Published May 04, 2026

a collage with whimsically dressed celebrities at the 2026 met gala

(From left:) Angela Bassett, Cher, Naomi Watts, Stevie Nicks, Anna Wintour, Madonna and Nicole Kidman interpret the “Fashion is Art” Met Gala theme.

From left: Mike Coppola/Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue, Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images, Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images, Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue, Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Key takeaways:

With an open-ended theme, veterans like Madonna, Naomi Watts and Stevie Nicks showed how experience turns fashion into spectacle.
Designers stressed comfort and precise details for a long night under cameras.
The exhibition’s sections include an “Aging Body,” reflected in several looks.

At the Met Gala, experience is the only look that can’t be borrowed from a designer.

The glitzy annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute drew some of the biggest names in entertainment, fashion and culture to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City on Monday night. This year’s co-chairs were Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams and Anna Wintour. The dress code: “Fashion is Art.”

It celebrates the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, Costume Art, on view May 10 through Jan. 10, 2027. The exhibition is organized into thematic categories, including the “Classical Body,” “Pregnant Body,” “Anatomical Body,” and “Aging Body.”

Adrienne Jones, who has taught Fashion Design at Pratt Institute for more than 25 years, says the stars who bring it all together — clothing, fit, hair, makeup, jewelry and the confidence to carry it — tend to be the ones with the most lived experience.

“One needs the confidence, style, and stature to carry the entire package,” she tells AARP.

For Jones, what separates a true Met Gala moment from a beautiful outfit that could have worked anywhere else is the scale of the event.

“This is not just any red carpet,” Jones says. The Met Gala is the Formula One of fashion. This is where the wildest of imagination is allowed to show up and show out.”

Jared Depriest Gilbert, a New York-based stylist who has worked with Mariska Hargitay and Retta, says the stars who land best on a theme this open are the ones who start from the inside out.

“For celebrities over 50, I think the key to a commanding look is leaning inwards and really wearing options that feel authentic to oneself and [comfortable],” he says. “It’s a long evening with 360 cameras, so comfort will be key.”

The details, he adds, are where looks are won or lost.

Below are the 50-plus stars who brought that experience to the 2026 Met Gala carpet.

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nicole kidman and daughter sunday rose at the 2026 met gala

Sunday Rose (left) and Nicole Kidman at the 2026 Met Gala.

Lexie Moreland/WWD via Getty Images

Nicole Kidman, 58

As a co-chair of this year’s gala, Kidman had a lot riding on her entrance. She delivered. The Oscar winner wore a custom Chanel by Matthieu Blazy, a deep-red, drop-waist sequin gown with feathered trim. “For me, fashion is art. I wanted something red. I wanted to embrace the way red has been used in art during the years. I feel it’s a strong symbol for love,” she said during an interview with Vogue during the livestream. The night carried personal weight beyond fashion. Kidman walked the steps alongside her daughter, Sunday Rose, who was making her Met Gala debut in a sugary-pink Dior — and who, per her mom, had school on Tuesday. “Keeping it real,” noted Kidman.

Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Anna Wintour, 76

The woman who built the gala showed up to her own party in Chanel. Wintour wore a feathery turquoise jacket over a turquoise-and-black embroidered gown, keeping her oversized sunglasses in place. When asked about her co-chairs, Kidman, Beyoncé and Venus Williams, she did not hesitate. “They’re women that have been fearless in their careers,” she told Vogue. “They keep going. They go at a pace that’s unstoppable.”

From left: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images, Masato Onada/WWD via Getty Image

Naomi Watts, 57

The actor opted for a full bustle: Her black Dior gown featured vibrant flowers on her skirt, coupled with blooms in her hair. The overall effect was less garden party, more Old Master still life brought to life on the Met steps. “It’s a bit whimsical and fun. She opted for a strapless black floor-length gown, accentuated with flower embellishments down the sides. The floral motif through the dress and hair adornments adds a bit of theatrics while remaining classic with the bustle gown referencing the late 1860s to 1880s,” says Depriest.

From left: Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Angela Bassett, 67

The host committee member wore a springy pink beaded Prabal Gurung gown. The look had a specific reference point: The dress was inspired by the painting Girl in Pink Dress, which hangs at the Met. But Bassett put her own spin on it. “This is a soft nod to the aging body because it was a young girl in the pink dress,” Bassett told Vogue. Depriest approves: “I love the use of textures and materials from the beads dangling from the shoulder strap to create almost a sleeve illusion to the pleated corset bodice. The fit is snug, leading down into the skirt and connecting with hanging beads, creating a fringe skirt moment. The flower trim on the sleeve and bodice adds a dramatic and couture-level touch.”

Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images

Stevie Nicks, 77

She has always known how to make an entrance. The music legend arrived in a voluminous navy ballgown by John Galliano for Zara. The skirt was enormous, structured and dramatic, trimmed with black floral appliqués at the waist. On her head, a feathered top hat. “I think the look stands out for its extravagant silhouette paired with fabrics such as silk, taffeta, velvet, tulle, feathers, and more. Her look was perfect for the moment. It really reflects the costume aspect of the ‘costume gala,’ and the details of the dress really fit the theme,” says Depriest.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Cher, 79

Returning to the Met Gala for the first time in more than 10 years, Cher wore a custom Burberry by Daniel Lee: a black silk-tulle twisted dress with a leather corset and a cropped leather jacket studded with crystal embellishments. The look was a deliberate callback to one of her most famous Met moments, a 1974 Bob Mackie design she wore to the same event 52 years ago. Cher referenced herself, and the room knew exactly what it was looking at. “I love to see people expressing themselves,” she told Vogue. “I remember the first Met Gala, I was naked. People were upset about it. Now it’s all about that.”

Michael Loccisano/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images

Madonna, 67

The pop icon wore a custom Saint Laurent all in black: tailored trousers, a fitted jacket, long gloves and a dramatic hat topped with a miniature sailing vessel, flanked on the carpet by models holding a sweeping grey veil that billowed across the steps. Vogue noted the look was inspired by “The Temptation of St. Anthony. Fragment II,” a surrealist painting by Leonora Carrington. Whatever the reference, the execution was total theater.

Honorable mention:

beyonce and daughter blue ivy carter at the 2026 met gala

Beyoncé (left) and Blue Ivy Carter at the 2026 Met Gala.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Beyoncé, 44

She’s not quite 50 yet, but Queen B returned to the Met Gala for the first time in a decade, and she did not come alone. Beyoncé walked the carpet with her daughter Blue Ivy, 14, in what became one of the night’s most talked-about mother-daughter moments alongside Nicole Kidman and Sunday Rose. The co-chair wore a sheer crystal-encrusted gown by Olivier Rousteing with a dramatic feathered hem and a towering silver beaded headpiece. “It feels surreal because my daughter is here," she told Vogue. “She looks so beautiful.”

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Donna Freydkin has spent 10-plus years interviewing celebrities for major publications, and has written for a variety of outlets such as USA Today, Allure, Yahoo! and CNN covering topics such as films, family and favorite meals.