After being turned into a couch meme at her very first Met Gala the year prior (more on that in a second), Kardashian chose to play it safe for the 2014 theme, "Charles James: Beyond Fashion." 

Alber Elbaz designed her custom Lanvin gown, which featured a black satin belt and a thigh-high slit. 

The gown was undoubtedly pretty and would've looked great for a movie premiere or awards show, but it was nothing special for a night that encourages celebrities to push the envelope.

Kardashian's ensemble was actually supposed to look completely different. She revealed on her now-inactive website that the gown was originally made of "this amazing leather with metallic detailing." Her design team only decided to redo it in blue satin at the last minute.  

Kardashian still planned to pair her new gown with a chunky belt and leather cuffs, but she ditched them before walking the red carpet because, according to E!, they were "a bit too rock 'n' roll."

As a Met Gala novice, it was clear Kardashian didn't want to rock the boat too much on the carpet. Still, we wish we could've seen the far edgier look she envisioned in 2014.

Kardashian wore a metallic silver Balmain gown with a thigh-high slit for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" theme in 2016. 

We loved the fabric of the silver dress, and Kardashian took a bit of a risk with her beauty by bleaching her eyebrows. However, the look didn't stand out among a sea of similar metallic looks. 

Kardashian was also overshadowed by her date, then-husband Kanye West. The rapper made headlines that year for daring to wear denim to the Met Gala. 

When looking back on her Met Gala looks in 2019, Kardashian revealed that she felt insecure ahead of the event because she hadn't "lost all of my baby weight" after giving birth to her son Saint in December 2015, which is likely why she stuck to her usual silhouette.

The "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" Met Gala will likely go down as one of the boldest in the event's history. Stars like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, and Blake Lively delivered stunning looks referencing everything from the Pope to the Sistine Chapel. 

Because of all the eye-catching looks, Kardashian didn't make waves with her custom gold Versace dress, although the number did nab her a few spots on best-dressed lists. 

Kardashian personally designed the chain-mail gown with Donatella Versace, and we loved the dark eye makeup and high pony she paired it with.

While the reality TV star hadn't yet mastered how to steal the show at the Met Gala, her style was definitely becoming a little bolder.

At first glance, Kardashian's off-the-shoulder white dress for the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between" theme might seem even simpler than the gowns we've already discussed. 

But the chic and beachy outfit, which Kardashian paired with sandals and minimal makeup, felt like a statement from the reality TV star. On a night when everyone would dial it up and go avant-garde, Kardashian decided to do something completely different — and it worked. One headline praised Kardashian's "seriously toned down" look.

"I figured everyone was going to go really over the top, and I just wanted to be really simple," Kardashian, who attended the event without West for the first time, told Vogue on the red carpet.

The 2017 Met Gala also happened just a few months after Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, and $11 million in jewels were stolen from her hotel room. The simple Vivienne Westwood dress and her lack of accessories felt like a statement from Kardashian, who later discussed the trauma she experienced from the robbery.

Designed by Peter Dundas, the dress was covered with strategically placed crystals and featured a long train of white feathers. Kardashian revealed on Instagram that her inspiration had been Cher's iconic 1974 Met Gala outfit.

Other naked dresses were popular on the red carpet that year. Stars like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez won praise for their sheer numbers, and Rihanna had the most standout look of the night by upstaging everyone with her custom Guo Pei gown — now one of the most iconic Met Gala looks of all time. 

But Kardashian's gown was bold, stunning, and told a story. It was the first inkling of her realizing she could become a force on the Met Gala red carpet.

Kardashian wore a custom John Galliano dress to the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" gala, which had a "Garden of Time" dress code.

Kardashian's look leaned into the garden aspect of the dress code, though it clearly had a through-line to her previous Met Gala looks as well.

Like dresses she wore in previous years, the gown was metallic and featured a dramatic, waist-cinching corset. Floral detailing adorned the strapless bodice, while the floor-length skirt was made of interlocking, floral appliqué that showed peeks of Kardashian's legs. Her blond hair added to the edgy feel of the look.

The gown was well suited to the theme, but the gray shrug Kardashian wore atop looked disjointed with the rest of the look. The outfit would have been stronger if Kardashian had let the dress speak for itself.

Kardashian arrived at the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" Met Gala in a Schiaparelli gown made almost entirely of pearl strands.

The strings of pearls created a halter-style bodice and barely-there skirt, which sat atop taupe shapewear.

Lagerfeld often gravitated toward pearls in his designs, making the ensemble an apt choice for the ball. However, the look also referenced Kardashian's 2007 Playboy shoot, for which she posed only wearing pearls, so it made even more of a statement.

Kris Jenner said her now meme-ified comment, "You're doing amazing, sweetie," to Kardashian during the shoot, as captured on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Kardashian also celebrated her Skims empire with the shapewear she wore under the pearls, using the Met Gala as a platform for her own success. The company was worth $3.2 billion as of 2022.

Kardashian arrived in the most jaw-dropping look of the night at the 2021 Met Gala with the theme, "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion." Her Balenciaga bodysuit and oversized T-shirt dress covered her from head to toe, including a face-covering mask and gloves.

She was only visible in silhouette, with her ponytail and a train flowing behind her as she walked the Met Gala carpet.

It was an instant meme because of its avant-garde nature. Still, Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalia, later explained that the outfit was designed to highlight how iconic Kardashian's body had become in pop culture. 

"People would know instantly it was Kim because of her silhouette. They wouldn't even need to see her face, you know?" Gvasalia told Vogue at the time. "And I think that the whole power of her celebrity, that people wouldn't need to see her face to know it's her."

Kardashian arrived at the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" gala in a Thierry Mugler gown that hugged her figure and was adorned with crystals. The dress appeared sheer, as it matched her skin tone.

After the gala, Kardashian revealed she went to extreme lengths to wear the skin-tight dress, including taking corset lessons to breathe in it.

She also couldn't go to the bathroom in the dress, and in a clip from "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," she said she was willing to urinate on herself in the gown if there was an emergency. 

The dress was pretty, but Kardashian's drastic measures made the dress so memorable.

Kardashian made her Met Gala debut in 2013 when she was expecting her first child, North West. 

The gala's theme was "Punk: Chaos to Couture," and Kardashian wore a long-sleeve, floral Riccardo Tisci dress. It had a high neckline, which contrasted with its daring, thigh-high slit. Matching, open-toe shoes completed the look.

Kardashian told Vogue in 2019 that Tisci wanted the floral pattern to symbolize sending a pregnant woman flowers, which she said was "such a sweet message." Tisci also told Kardashian that Anna Wintour wanted her to wear the floral dress, so she did.

Social media users immediately took to Twitter to criticize the look after Kardashian walked the red carpet. Many compared the dress to a couch, to the star's dismay.

"I was crying, like, the whole way home because I just couldn't believe it," Kardashian said in the same interview with Vogue.

Looking back at the dress, Kim has a different perspective. "Now I love it," she told the magazine. "Now it's, like, sick."

Although it wasn't for the reasons she wanted, Kardashian was the talk of the event from her very first Met Gala, which was even more impressive considering she was attending as Kanye West's date.

Kardashian made headlines when she arrived at the 2022 "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" Met Gala in the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.

The sheer Jean Louis dress was embellished from head to toe, and Kardashian dyed her hair platinum blond to fully recreate Monroe's look.

"In a sense, it's the original naked dress. That's why it was so shocking," Kardashian told Vogue of the gown.

She borrowed the dress from Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, which acquired it for $4.81 million in 2016, according to a Ripley's press release. Kardashian wore the gown on the red carpet, but she changed into a replica immediately after because it was so fragile. 

Kardashian once again took extreme measures to fit into Monroe's dress. She said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks so she could wear it. 

The conversation around the dress continued for weeks after the Met Gala, as people accused Kardashian of damaging the gown when she wore it.

In June 2022, Ripley's and Kardashian sent Business Insider a joint statement saying she "did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala." 

Kardashian solidified her status as the Met Gala it-girl with her Marilyn Monroe look, which was truly a once-in-a-lifetime fashion moment.

The white gown had a halter neckline with silver embellishments on the bodice.

She paired the dress with black mesh gloves and a red rose to fit the "Poiret: King of Fashion" theme.

It was an understated look compared to other outfits Rihanna wore to the Met Gala in the years to come.

The suit included a jacket with puffy sleeves, a bow tie, and ankle-length pants. She paired it with black gloves and black pumps.

The jacket's dramatic, oversize shoulder pads fit the event's "The Model as Muse" theme. Rihanna's edgy pixie cut completed the chic look.

The semi-sheer dress designed by Stella McCartney had a scalloped, one-shoulder neckline and a slit on the skirt, showing off her criss-cross pumps.

The gown was eye-catching, but Rihanna's long, bright-red side-braid gave the look a pop of color.

The form-fitting gown Rihanna wore to the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" gala had long sleeves, a boat neckline, and flowed to the floor.

It hugged Rihanna's figure, and the gown's texturing caught the light as she walked the red carpet.

Rihanna's two-piece featured a long-sleeve crop top with pointed sleeves and a high-waisted skirt with a side train. She wore a sparkly choker that blended with the neckline of the dress.

The ensemble's backless crop top felt modern and fresh.

Rihanna solidified her status as a Met Gala legend at the "China: Through the Looking Glass" gala.

Her custom yellow look sat off her shoulders. It featured faux fur sleeves and trim, and intricate detailing adorned the ensemble.

The singer making her way down the red carpet while her long train flowed behind her will always be an iconic Met Gala moment.

The 2018 Met Gala theme was "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between." Rihanna appropriately went with a Comme des Garçons design.

The dress was made entirely of colorful, three-dimensional petals that floated around her. Rihanna paired the look with red heels, lacing her thighs, and pink-toned makeup.

Rihanna's jewel-encrusted silver look featured a mini dress, a separate, longer skirt, and a jacket. A large, pointed headpiece and silver jewelry coordinated with the look.

Demna Gvasalia designed the Fenty founder's custom Balenciaga coatdress. Its collar popped around her shoulders, and the skirt was a subtle mermaid.

Rihanna paired the look with a beanie hat, a diamond necklace, and a stunning crystal headpiece. 

Rihanna wore a custom Valentino Haute Couture gown to the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" gala.

The gown's form-fitting bodice showed off her baby bump with a rosette in the center, though Rihanna covered it with a hooded, rosette-covered jacket and fingerless gloves when she walked the red carpet. Her dropped-waist skirt flowed into a long train, which trailed behind her on the carpet.

Rihanna completed the look with funky sunglasses that had eyelashes on them.

Swift's white Ralph Lauren gown featured a pointed neckline, ruffled, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and a coordinating skirt.

The dress was pretty, but it didn't stand out in a way that fit the "American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity" on the red carpet.

Likewise, instead of elevating her outfit with accessories, Swift wore minimal jewelry and kept her hair in a demure updo.

Swift arrived at the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" gala in a one-shoulder J. Mendel gown. The dress mixed taupe and frayed, black fabric, and it had a textured, mermaid skirt.

The dress was well-suited to the theme, but Swift's simple updo took away from the effect. A more over-the-top hairstyle could have taken the outfit to another level.

Swift sported another J. Mendel gown for the 2013 "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" Met Gala.

The bodice of the black, floor-length gown was covered in cutouts of sheer, webbed fabric, and it had a cutout on the bodice.

A jeweled collar and dramatic eye makeup completed the look, which fit the punk theme well.

Swift attended her first Met Gala in 2008 wearing a gold ombré gown from Badgley Mischka. 

The dress celebrated the "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" theme with its head-to-toe embellishments and shape that nodded to a mermaid tail.

The look seemed to be an Easter egg for Swift's "Fearless" album, which was released in October 2008.

The album cover had golden tones, on which Swift was photographed with her hair flowing around her as she spun her head — which Swift modernized for "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" in 2021.

Her Met Gala gown had the same color scheme, and her hair was styled similarly. The look set the tone for the release of Swift's second album just months before its release.

The 2014 Met Gala's theme was "Charles James: Beyond Fashion." The event's white-tie dress code called for formal looks from celebrities, and Swift rose to the occasion in a soft-pink Oscar de la Renta gown.

The dress had a scooped neckline and was embroidered with delicate flowers. The column dress had a low back and a dramatic train flowing from an oversized bow.

The elegant dress was modern but evoked the glamour of Old Hollywood, and unlike in years past, Swift matched the look of the dress with her hair, which was swept to the side in soft waves. It was a step up from her past looks.

Swift was a Met Gala co-chair in 2016, so it's no surprise she embraced the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" theme. 

Her custom Louis Vuitton dress was metallic, featuring a scaled pattern and daring cutouts along the stomach. Swift paired the dress with heels that wrapped to her knees. Bleached hair and black lipstick completed the futuristic look, making the look edgy overall.

The departure from Swift's typically softer looks made it a standout on the Met Gala carpet and in Swift's fashion history, but it became truly iconic because the 2016 Met Gala proved significant for Swift personally and musically.

Swift was first romantically linked to Tom Hiddleston at the Gala, as a video of her dancing with him in a Louis Vuitton dress went viral. Fans also speculate that Swift met Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for six years, the same night. Swift and Alywn split in February 2023, and she's been dating Travis Kelce since the summer of 2023.

Fans also suspect her interactions with both Hiddleston and Alwyn at the Gala served as inspiration for two songs on her album "Reputation" — "Dress" and "Getaway Car."

The silver-toned look she wore to the Met Gala also mimicked the coloring of her "Reputation" cover, again connecting the album to the event.