The actress has attended the coveted fashion event many times since 2009. We’re taking stock of all her Met Gala looks ever — the good, the questionable and the Y2K.
Anne Hathaway is thriving. With a buzzy — and steamy — new movie set to be released in early May, and a certified style renaissance behind her (this leopord look!), it only makes sense that the former Princess of Genovia would grace us with her presence at the 2024 Met Gala.
While Hathaway’s attendance at this year’s Met Gala hasn’t been confirmed (attendees tend to start teasing their looks — and photos of their coveted invites — in the days leading up to the big night), there’s no denying that this year’s theme was made for her. “The Garden of Time,” a dress code celebrating the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s newest exhibition”Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” is inspired by English novelist J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same title. An interpretive text about the passage of time and life, Vogue expects there to be a a ton of florals and botanical looks gracing the infamous Met steps (you know, like life in bloom?).
This means that Anne Hathaway will be in her element. Who better to represent and speak to the beauty and uncertainty of life than Hathaway herself, a former child actress who has faced public scrutiny only to see her career blossom and flourish in her 40s? The answer is literally no one. Plus, the actress knows how to turn out an A+ look.
Over the past several years, Hathaway and her longtime stylist Erin Walsh have revamped the star’s wardrobe, taking her from beautiful but more generic looks to high fashion, and embracing the star’s sexy style in mini-dresses and platforms. In other words: Mother has been mothering
Which is why we’re so excited to see what the The Idea of You actress dons at this years Met Gala. Hathaway has attended the fashion event on and off since her first appearance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2009 (wearing a very late 2000s bubble dress from Marc Jacobs), but it was her last two appearances, at the 2018 and 2023 fêtes, that really cemented her as burgeoning fashion royalty. Ahead of the 2024 Met gala, we’re taking a look back at all the Anne Hathaway Met Gala looks as her style evolved over the years, including the good, the bad and the straight-up Y2K.
2009: “The Model As Muse: Embodying Fashion”
For her first appearance at the Met Gala, a young Hathaway channeled the early 2000s in a big way. The star took to the carpet in an eggplant bubble dress from Marc Jacobs (the nostalgia!), accessorizing with strappy metallic platform sandals, Van Cleef & Arpels jewellery and a bouffant that could rival that of a Southern debutant. The only accessory missing? A pink Motorola Razr phone.
2010: “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”
Channeling her character Mia Thermapolis from The Princess Diaries for her second Met ball, Hathaway played it safe — but very pretty — with a champagne Valentino dress, jewels from Bulgari and a Ferragamo bag. Given how style has evolved at the Met Gala itself, with red carpet looks starting out safe and becoming increasingly avant-garde as the event’s cachet grew (and big names like Rihanna and Zendaya started showing up), Hathaway’s look wasn’t out of place.
2013: “Punk: From Chaos to Couture”
Say what you want about Hathaway during this period of time, but after becoming a Hollywood pariah with the 2012 release of Les Miserables, the actress leaned into the fact that people were talking about her by just going for it when it came to fashion. Case in point: Her punk look for the 2013 Met Gala. Hathaway channelled punk legend Debbie Harry with her blonde pixie cut and a sheer Valentino creation with feather accents.
2014: “Charles James: Beyond Fashion”
Annie, what were you thinking? As far as Met Gala looks go, the actress’s 2014 red Calvin Klein two-piece was a letdown; especially considering the theme. The year’s theme celebrated the work of American-based designer Charles James, who was well-known in the 1940s and ’50s for glamorous ball gowns that embraced women’s bodies and were worn by socialites like Millicent Rogers and Austine Hearst. James’ gowns were iconic, voluptuous and decadent, everything that a monochromatic column skirt and strapless top is… not.
2015: “China: Through the Looking Glass”
Probably the most controversial of Hathaway’s Met Gala looks to date happened in 2015. After years of bad press and a confusing era of unjustified hate (seriously, what was up with that?!), Hathaway stepped out onto the carpet in a hooded gold lamé gown from Ralph Lauren. As the actress told Vanity Fair at the time, the idea for the dress was inspired by a statue of the Buddha the actress had seen. “I found a few contemporary Chinese artists that I liked and I sent it over to Ralph Lauren, and this was the one we decided to try to interpret,” Hathaway told the magazine.“So we interpreted a Buddha with a hoodie.”
Which was *ahem* a choice. The look was a big swing and for some, an ever bigger miss, with the actress compared to Star Wars’ Princess Leia and a Hershey’s Kiss. Nevertheless, the daring look had fans who saw the fashion moment — and Hathaway wearing the heck out of it — as a big f*ck you to the haters.
2018: “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”
After a few years away from the event, Hathaway returned to the Met Gala and leaned into that year’s theme in a big — and stunning — way. Hathaway wore a voluminous Valentino Couture ball gown with ruffled sleeves and a triangle cut-out, accessorizing with a gold halo crown that made the actress look like an angel. The big draw of the ball gown was the hue, a vivid red that — six years later — is still all the rage. As far as some Met Gala looks go, it was a rather tame, but accurate, interpretation of the year’s theme, and showed that the star could step-away from her Les Miserable-era column gowns.
2023: “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”
Arguably her best Met gala look to date, Hathaway’s homage to the late Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld was not only perfect for the theme, but one of the best looks of the night. The new face of Versace wore a body-hugging white tweed number with cutouts; the textile was a fave of Lagerfeld, and used in most of his collections. Hathaway accessorized the show-stopping number with a matching jacket, tweed opera gloves (chic!), silver platform heels and a diamond choker by Bulgari. In a year that delivered plenty of major looks from the actress, this Met Gala ‘fit firmly cemented the Devil Wears Prada actress in her fashun era.