Top 5 Met Gala Looks From North Texas Artists

Every year on the first Monday of May, the biggest and brightest stars align at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to parade around in custom couture while the rest of us sit at home in our sweatpants and judge them.

That time is upon us once again as the 2024 Met Gala is set to take place this Monday. The annual event, a fundraiser for The Costume Institute at The Met, marks the unveiling of a new themed exhibition of historical clothing, and attendees are encouraged to dress to the theme.

The Met Gala has received criticism for being an out-of-touch, ostentatious display of wealth. To that we say, “Yeah, that’s the point.”

Back in the day, the ridiculously wealthy used to give back to society by being patrons of the arts or funding the construction of beautiful buildings. These days, they just sit around in their beige, half-empty minimalist homes and sink their money into fake nonsense like cryptocurrency.

Except, that is, for the first Monday of May, when they put on a little fashion show for us. It's the best thing some of them do all year.

North Texas artists have had a strong presence at the Met Gala since its inception, making us proud through their fashion sense and ability to read instructions and follow a theme. In anticipation of next Monday, we’ve chosen our five favorites and broken down their iconic looks.

Kacey Musgraves

Year: 2019, “Camp: Notes on Fashion”

Inspired by a 1964 Susan Sontag essay, the 2019 Met Gala was an ode to all things tacky and distasteful, but in a good way. While many celebrities missed the mark (they weren’t “looking camp right in the eye,” if you will), North Texas native Kacey Musgraves pulled out all the stops with her take on Barbie. Her look consisted of a blond wig, a hot-pink leather jacket and a slew of pink accessories to match, including a hairdryer-shaped clutch, plastic sunglasses and a pink convertible for her grand entrance.

In other words, she was giving "Barbie-core" a full four years before Margot Robbie.

Musgraves was dressed by Moschino and styled by the luxury fashion brand’s former creative director, Jeremy Scott. Scott’s tenure at Moschino was marked by playful, humorous designs. His pieces often incorporate overt pop culture references, such as bags shaped like McDonald’s Happy Meals, and one of his final runway collections centered on clothing with inflatable elements. Scott’s work at Moschino embodied camp, and his wacky Met Gala collaboration with Musgraves was a match made in heaven.

Erykah Badu and Puma Curry

Year: 2023, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”

Erykah Badu, the queen of the Dallas music scene, has attended several Met Galas, but last year’s appearance was extra special because she brought her daughter, Puma Curry, with her. Curry has already followed in her mother’s footsteps as a musician, but the two are clearly establishing a fashion dynasty as well.

Badu wore a hand-crafted custom Marni gown and matching headpiece made of over 90,000 meters of thread to achieve the full-body fringe effect. It’s worth mentioning that Karl Lagerfeld, the late iconic designer whom the event was honoring, held a fashion show in Dallas in 2013 that drew inspiration from the American West. And, yes, that collection did feature quite a bit of his signature fringe.

Curry also wore Marni, albeit a drastically different look. In an ensemble reminiscent of Josephine Baker, Curry was dripping in beads and crystals and gem-embroidered stilettos. A white fur coat and similarly bejeweled headpiece completed the glamorous look.

Badu has since released a limited-edition capsule collection with Marni alongside creative director Francesco Risso. Curry served as one of the models.

Leon Bridges

Year: 2021, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”

Unfortunately, the bar for menswear at the Met Gala is pretty low. Ask even the most casual fan of the event and they’ll rant about the continued prevalence of plain black suits. While there are plenty of situations where that kind of outfit is acceptable, an event dedicated to costumes and couture requires a little more effort.

The 2021 gala was themed around American fashion, and Fort Worth native Leon Bridges stuck the landing. Instead of a black suit, Bridges opted for a fringed suede jacket, star-studded pants and a cowboy hat. His jewelry, which included a silver watch, necklace and a panther-shaped broach, came courtesy of Cartier.

At an event honoring a sprawling range of American fashion motifs, Leon Bridges represented Fort Worth cowboys in style.

Jessica Simpson

Year: 2007, “Poiret: King of Fashion”

We regret to inform you that Simpson attended this event with then-boyfriend John Mayer. She’s been open about the fact that their toxic relationship was a low point in her life, but as far as the 2007 Met Gala is concerned, we say throw away the man, but keep the dress.

The 2007 theme was a tribute to early-20th-century designer Paul Poiret, who “pioneered a seductive modernity based on woman's self-confident femininity,” according to Costume Institute curator Harold Koda. Simpson’s shimmering beaded Roberto Cavalli gown, with its plunging halter neckline and cutouts, completely embodied this philosophy.

In a 2022 oral history of the Met Gala, Vogue creative digital director Sally Singer recalled sharing a table with Simpson that year and claimed that Simpson’s breasts “maybe fell out of her dress on the red carpet.”

Simpson responded by posting a famous photo of Sophia Loren side-eying a similarly busty Jayne Mansfield and called out the piece for body shaming her and portraying the situation inaccurately.

“To be shamed by another woman for having boobs in 2020 is nauseating,” Simpson wrote.

We’re obviously Team Jessica on this one.

Selena Gomez

Year: 2017, “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: The Art of the In-Between”

The 2017 theme honored Rei Kawakubo, founder of Japanese fashion line Comme des Garçons, which is known for its avant-garde designs. Attendees were encouraged to challenge conventional notions of good taste and find beauty in the "in-betweenness."

Grand Prairie native Selena Gomez may not have had the most interesting dress this year (we racked our brains trying to find a way to claim Rihanna for Dallas, but no dice), but we still think her custom Coach dress follows the theme. It looks plain and simple from a distance, but a closer look reveals playful, colorful stars spattered across the neckline and, to a lesser degree, down the dress. That’s “in-betweenness,” right? The space between the mundane and the captivating?

Either way, she looked stunning that year. Even in pictures next to then-boyfriend The Weeknd, who was wearing a plain black suit.