The Metropolitan Museum of Art held its first Costume Institute Gala, now more commonly known as the ‘Met Gala,’ in 1964.
The event which was started as your standard charity ball is now famous for being the biggest, most exclusive, celebrity red carpet event of the year, thanks to the appointment of Vogue‘s editor-in-chief as the gala chair in 1995.
Just take one look at the red carpet arrivals and it’s clear that the invite list is packed to the brim with the most famous faces in the world, but as Page Six reports, it takes more than just fame to get a golden ticket and don an iconic outfit.
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After an investigation into the politics behind the annual ball, here are some of the most highly-kept Met Gala secrets you need to know.
1. Anna Wintour decides on the guest list
This one is a bit of a no-brainer, however, even if you buy a table—which, reportedly, go for $275,000 but can cost upwards of $500,000—Anna still has to give the A-OK.
2. This year’s event is even tighter than ever
The list of attendees to the Met Gala has been shrinking over the years as it gets more exclusive, with modern Met Gala balls as small as 600 attendees.
3. Tickets start at $30,000 per person
And can go as high as $50,000. Celebrities also have to cop the price, unless they’re specifically invited as a guest of a designer, Wintour or corporate sponsor.
4. Even if you’re on the committee that raises funds for the Met, that doesn’t guarantee you an invite
In past years, Friends of the Costume Institute were given discounted tickets for already donating to the museum. Now, they’re lucky to be on the guest list at all.
5. There’s no plus ones, unless, of course, your plus one is also A-list
“I know people [on the Friends committee] who get really frustrated that they can’t bring their husbands,” Cameron Silver, founder of luxe vintage shop Decades in Los Angeles, told Page Six. “It becomes a very expensive girls’ night out.”
6. If you get on the wrong side of Anna, there’s no going back
Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe was invited to sit at Brian Atwood’s table in 2007, but was then disinvited, allegedly, because she said in a New York Times interview she was more influential than Wintour, and Project Runway’s Tim Gunn said on E!’s Fashion Police that his invitation was rescinded when he told reporters an embarrassing story about the Vogue editor.
7. If you do get an invite but decide to skip a year, chances are you won’t be invited again.
Unless you’re ridiculously famous, don’t decide to sit out for a year.
8. Selfies are banned
Anna doesn’t like the outside world seeing the party, so people who take selfies or who share photos of the dinner are generally uninvited from future years. We’d guess whoever took that video of Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston dancing wasn’t on this year’s guest list.
9. Anna decides on the seating chart
She also suggests which celebs designers should choose to invite as a guest and dress.
10. Once you’re in, you’re approved by the uber-famous guests
An invite (read: approval from Anna) and the fact you could afford the ticket means you’re an A-list celebrity—for the night, that is.
