The Best Met Gala Memes of All Time

The Met Gala has long been recognized for producing the most talked-about designer moments and celebrity selfies of the year. These days, however, fashion’s most important red carpet is also the most fertile ground for the ultimate irreverent internet compliment: memeification.

For the past few first Mondays in May, just as stylists have created looks for their famous clientele, the creative geniuses of Twitter and Instagram have taken to Photoshop during red carpet arrivals to hilariously (and affectionately!) roast the night’s most eye-widening creations. There are dozens of memes to choose from, but only a few are as clever as they are celebratory—the perfect balance of love and snark. Check out our very favorites below:

When the full Kardashian-Jenner clan hit the carpet together…

From Kim’s Marilyn dress to Kylie’s bridal tribute to late Virgil Abloh, the Kardashian-Jenners made the most of their first time attending the Met Gala en famille, and the memes spoke for themselves.

Who can forget Lady Gaga’s “Notes on Camp” entrance?

2019 was a pretty stupendous year for Met Gala memes, but Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (a.k.a. Lady Gaga) took things to a whole new level in a hot-pink Brandon Maxwell number with three looks layered underneath it. We all learned a powerful lesson that night: Never underestimate Gaga when it comes to camp.

Billy Porter being carried in on a litter was everything.

The Pose star doesn’t do anything halfway, and that extended to his 2019 Met Gala entrance, for which he wore a custom “Sun God” ensemble by The Blonds that included a bejeweled catsuit outfitted with 10-foot wings and a 24-karat gold headpiece and was carried in on a litter by six shirtless men. And just like that, a million memes were born:

Receiving our bronze medal, Priyanka Chopra’s Ralph Lauren trench dress.

The best memes are the ones that even their own subjects can’t resist. Such was the case for Priyanka Chopra, who seemed genuinely entertained by the Internet’s take on her custom Ralph Lauren trench in 2017.

While Chopra and Lauren were inspired by Katharine Hepburn–era elegance, the meme-makers saw the train of her oversize trench as fertile grounds for all kinds of khaki-toned joke images— including the pyramids—which Chopra thought was funny enough to eventually ’gram herself.

Runner up: Diddy on the Met steps.

Navigating the Met—with its phalanxes of paparazzi and legion of celebrity guests—can be as arduous as the New York City Marathon, so we don’t blame Diddy for taking a brief pause on the iconic Met steps in 2017. Of course, he did so as elegantly as is humanly possible, which is why snaps of Diddy regally lounging were ripe for meme-ing. People swapped the steps for luxury (and flying) carpets, but we loved seeing Diddy compared to a swooning woman from an old painting— because who else could so expertly rock a fainting-chaise-lounge look?

And the winner is (still!) Rihanna’s gold Guo Pei gown.

It’s fitting that our gold meme medal goes to Rihanna’s 2015 gold Guo Pei gown and its yellow, fur-lined cape with a 16-foot train. The extra-long dress turned out to be the most fruitful look ever in meme-terms, inspiring some very funny Internet reactions. 

We’ll never forget Guo Pei’s incredible work, and we’ll never forget Rihanna looking like a gorgeous omelet either—the measure of a perfect meme.