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Every outfit Blake Lively has worn to the Met Gala, ranked from least to most iconic

Blake Lively attends the Met Gala in May 2026.
Blake Lively attends the Met Gala in May 2026. ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images
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The 2026 Met Gala has come and gone in a haze of sparkly dresses, bold suits, and celebrity sightings.

Celebrities interpreted the "Costume Art"-themed gala's "Fashion is Art" dress code in a variety of ways, from Beyoncé's sparkly skeleton dress to Lauren Sánchez Bezos' recreation of a painting inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In one of the most exciting red-carpet moments of Monday night, Blake Lively returned to the Met after a four-year hiatus in one of her boldest looks to date.

Check out every look Lively has worn to the Met Gala, ranked from least to most iconic.

Lively's Marchesa minidress for the 2010 Met Gala was playful but lackluster compared to her other looks.

Blake Lively at the 2010 Met Gala wearing a short blue minidress with flowers on it.
Blake Lively at the 2010 Met Gala. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Lively's minidress stood out on the "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" red carpet, which was full of floor-length gowns. She paired it with glittery black shoes and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

The outfit was pretty but not as eye-catching as the actor's other Met Gala looks. 

Lively made her Met Gala debut in an overly simple Ralph Lauren dress in 2008.

Blake Lively wearing a black gown with a ruffled bottom on the Met Gala red carpet.
Blake Lively attends the 2008 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

The theme of the 2008 Met Gala was "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy," and Lively attended in a black, mermaid-style dress with feathers on the skirt.

Black gloves and diamond bracelets brought a fun flair to the look, but it was a bit plain overall.

Lively opted for an edgier look for the "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" Met Gala in 2013.

Blake Lively at the 2013 Met Gala in a gown with a gray top and black bottom.
Blake Lively at the 2013 Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Lively's strapless Gucci gown had a gray bodice and a black skirt, with tiers of silk fabric and metallic beading across the hips.

She completed her look with statement diamond earrings. 

At the 2009 gala, Lively began embracing daring fashion in a Versace dress with a thigh-high slit.

Blake Lively at the 2009 Met Gala in a teal gown with a plunging neckline, thigh-high slit, and wearing strappy gold heels.
Blake Lively at the 2009 Met Gala. Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Lively paired her outfit with simple gold heels at the "The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion" gala.

Her understated accessories drew attention to the sheer sleeve, thigh-high slit, and plunging neckline of her dress. 

Lively looked elegant at the 2011 Met Gala in a Grecian-inspired dress.

Blake Lively at the 2011 Met Gala in a nude gown with silver appliques.
Blake Lively at the 2011 Met Gala. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

The same year that Lively became the face of Chanel, she attended the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty"-themed event in a gown from the brand's Fall 2009 Haute Couture collection.

The bodice had a sheer base embellished with silver flowers, while taupe fabric draped over one side and was attached at her shoulder.

In 2014, Lively exuded Old Hollywood glamour in her sparkly dress, cementing her place as a style icon to watch at the gala.

Blake Lively at the 2014 Met Gala in a glamorous blush gown with a train.
Blake Lively at the 2014 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

The actor arrived at the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" exhibit in a floor-length, sequin-covered gown from Gucci Première. The blush gown hugged her figure to the thigh, flaring subtly at the knee into a dramatic train.

The red jewelry Lively wore coordinated with the pink color of the dress.

Lively's pink look for the 2016 "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" Met Gala didn't fit the theme, but she still made a statement.

Blake Lively at the 2016 Met Gala in a pink gown with a cape with red details on it.
Blake Lively at the 2016 Met Gala. Karwai Tang/Getty Images

Lively looked ethereal in the pink Burberry dress. It had a thigh-high slit covered in sheer fabric, offering a glimpse of Lively's leg, and a red, floral appliqué adorned the gown's built-in cape.

When she walked the red carpet, Lively was pregnant with her second child, but the news hadn't been made public yet.

Lively stepped up her Met Gala game even further with the gold Atelier Versace gown she wore at the 2017 Met Gala.

Blake Lively at the 2017 Met Gala in a gold gown with a plunging neckline and blue feathers at the bottom of the skirt.
Blake Lively at the 2017 Met Gala. Jackson Lee/Getty Images

Lively's dress for the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between" Met Gala was mostly gold, with long sleeves and a plunging neckline.

The train had four shades of blue feathers, so Lively looked like she was about to take flight. She completed her look with sapphire and gold jewelry. 

Blake Lively surprised fans when she arrived at the 2026 Met Gala in a custom Versace look.

Blake Lively at the 2026 Met Gala.
Blake Lively at the 2026 Met Gala. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

On the same day that the 2026 "Costume Art" Met Gala took place, Lively and Justin Baldoni settled their legal dispute over the film "It Ends With Us" just weeks before they were set to go to trial.

Rather than staying out of the public eye as the dust settled, Lively arrived at the Met Gala mere hours later in an archival Versace gown from 2006.

The dress had a pale-yellow halter bodice with silver sparkles along the sides. Soft yellow, peach, and purple layers of fabric made up the full skirt, and Lively told Vogue she had the train lengthened to make a stronger statement for the Met. It trailed behind her as she ascended the stairs.

The bold look signaled Lively was closing the chapter on a dramatic time in her life. A PR expert told Business Insider it was the perfect stage for a comeback.

At the 2018 gala, Lively wore another Atelier Versace dress with sheer slits on both legs.

Blake Lively at the 2018 Met Gala.
Blake Lively at the 2018 Met Gala. Jackson Lee/Getty Images

Lively's Versace gown for the "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" Met Gala took more than 600 hours to make.

The ornate ruby-and-gold gown was designed with a jewel-encrusted corset. She accessorized the dramatic look with a spiked headpiece, Christian Louboutin shoes, and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.

The gown was one of the best looks at the 2018 Met Gala.

Lively wore her most stylish Met Gala look in 2022, channeling the Statue of Liberty in a gown that transformed on the carpet.

A side-by-side of Blake Lively in her transforming dress at the 2022 Met Gala. The gown started out completely copper and then was unfolded to reveal a teal train.
Blake Lively attends the 2022 Met Gala. Chris Polk/WWD/Penske Media/Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images

The actor, who co-chaired the 2022 event alongside her husband Ryan Reynolds, arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a custom Versace look that changed from bronze to green to mirror the oxidation of the famous New York City landmark. The dress was embroidered with crystal, metallic leather, and tri-tone copper foil. 

When Lively arrived, the dress had an oversize copper bow at the hip that gave way to a long, dramatic train. The bow unraveled as Lively walked along the red carpet, becoming green.

Lively told E! on the red carpet that the front of the dress was also designed to emulate the architecture of the Empire State Building, and her Lorraine Schwartz crown was another accessory meant to mimic the Statue of Liberty. 

E!'s Zanna Roberts Rassi said the green side of the train was embroidered with a celestial map inspired by the same 12 zodiac constellations painted on the ceiling of New York's Grand Central Terminal.

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Samantha Grindell Pettyjohn
Samantha Grindell Pettyjohn is a Senior Lifestyle Reporter at Business Insider with more than eight years of experience in the lifestyle space.At Business Insider, Samantha's coverage focuses on unique living situations, interior design, celebrity style, and books. Her work includes features on multigenerational living and one-of-a-kind houses, timely articles on celebrity fashion, live coverage of award shows and pageants, and fun pieces about popular book series. Samantha also loves reporting on celebrities on her beats, from HGTV stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa to authors such as Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros.Samantha appeared on Scripps News and CBS in 2022 to discuss the royal family, and in 2023, she won an Anthem Award for her work on Business Insider's package "Better Me."Samantha received her B.A. in English from Birmingham-Southern College in 2017, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She later earned her M.S. in Publishing from New York University in 2019. Samantha was previously a staff writer at Romper, and her writing has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Mic, and Oprah.com. Today, Samantha lives in Atlanta with her husband and dog.Email her at sgrindell@bjinnox.com and follow her on X.