Best 50+ Looks at New York City’s 2024 Met Gala

All the hottest designers, celebrities, models and influencers flock to New York City for one of fashion’s biggest nights of the year, the Met Gala, and AARP is laser-focused on the attendees who are 50-plus. The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute turns the steps of the famed museum into an open-air fashion show — an intersection of high style, drama and more than a little bit of camp. The evening’s attire adheres loosely to an annual dress code chosen by Vogue editor Anna Wintour and her Met Gala cochairs, actress and fashionista Zendaya, singer/actress Jennifer Lopez, 54, rapper/singer/record producer Bad Bunny and Thor actor Chris Hemsworth. While last year’s outfits channeled designer Karl Lagerfeld, this year the dress code is inspired by a book — J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story The Garden of Time.

The theme for the event is culled from the museum’s newest exhibit that opens to the public this week: “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” The exhibition will showcase (reawaken?) approximately 250 fashions drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, some that have rarely been displayed.

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See all the head-turning fashions:

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Anna Wintour, 74

Longtime chairwoman of the gala and Vogue editor in chief Wintour looked regal in a Loewe by Jonathan Anderson ensemble. Wintour chose a long black dress coat adorned with beautiful blooms over a simple floor-length white gown. She told Vogue online that she was grateful for the “army” of people who put the event and exhibition together, but her favorite element of the exhibition “is always the pleasure of seeing the visitors that come into the show and understand the magic.”

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Sarah Jessica Parker, 59

Perennial fashion favorite Parker didn’t disappoint. The And Just Like That star pushed the envelope in a nude-colored Richard Quinn calf-length dress with boning. “It’s a piece of art — lace stretched over canvas,” said Parker about the trellis-like dress, inspired by the J.G. Ballard book. “It’s hand-embroidered and hand-stitched.” To complete the look, Parker wore Briony Raymond jewelry and a Philip Treacy hat. “I always feel very lucky that I can borrow things that are so beautiful … it’s sort of like an alternate universe for a moment — not unlike the theme.”

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Jennifer Lopez, 54

For her 14th appearance at the gala, Met cochair Lopez stunned in a sheer, body-hugging Champagne-colored Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown complete with silver beading and architectural neckline. The “Waiting for Tonight” singer/actress said her butterfly wing-inspired dress was created with 2.5 million bugle beads and over 800 hours of hand-embroidery. “It’s a beautiful night with so many artists coming together from different genres — from music, from film, from fashion,” she told Vogue online.