Cardi B never disappoints at the Met Gala.
No shrinking violet, the "WAP" rapper is known for spraying her fashion sensibilities all over the place when she ascends those famous carpeted stairs at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and this year was no exception.
Taking the "Garden of Time" theme for the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibit to dramatic lengths, Cardi wore a voluminous feathery black gown by Windowsen that took up the whole courtyard—so being one of the last stars to walk the red carpet made perfect sense: She and her nine-person entourage that fanned the skirt out to full capacity needed the room!
(See all the over-the-top red carpet fashion at the 2024 Met Gala.)
The 31-year-old, her arms and décolletage glowing thanks to Vaseline Radiant X Replenishing Hydrating Body Oil, accessorized with a black turban and eye-popping diamond and emerald jewelry that coordinated with her dagger-sharp green nails. Her longtime makeup artist Erika La' Pearl crafted her bold eye and soft lip using products from NYX Professional Makeup.
Last year, Cardi wore four looks before the night was through, a one-woman tribute bonanza to the late Karl Lagerfeld.
"Every single time that I got to the Met, it's fun of course," she told Vogue for a video chronicling her 2023 Met Gala prep. But it was also admittedly nerve-wracking, "maybe because my looks are so spectacular that people just expect every year to be more amazing than the last, and it's so hard because imagine competing with myself. That is sickening."
Once upon a time, though, it wasn't always easy to get her hands on the kind of couture she's been wowing in lately. "A lot of designers, they did tell me no," the Love & Hip-Hop: New York alum told Hot New Hip Hop in 2017. "They didn't really wanna work with me."
So, the 5-foot-3 artist dressed the part until she got the part.
"I said to myself, You know what, I'm gonna buy their pieces until they wanna work with me," she said. "I'm gonna prove to them that I'm a fashion f--king icon."
According to her longtime stylist Kollin Carter, it was when Cardi turned up at the 2019 Met Gala looking like an avian queen in a feather-bedecked, garnet-red quilted gown by Thom Browne that she landed on every designer's radar.
"That look broke Cardi B into the next level of the fashion world," her longtime stylist Kollin Carter told The Hollywood Reporter. "People who didn't take us seriously were like, 'OK, they're here to stay.'"
He continued, "We've given look after look, year after year, we've reached into archives that are impossible to reach into. We caused a cultural shift. I don't think there were many women like Cardi who existed in the fashion space. Now there are a ton of other rap females who aspire to be in that space because they see what's possible."
Added Cardi, "There are so many obstacles against us. For example, this body is not meant for a size 2. I'm very hips, ass, and that's me. It was not easy, but we make it look easy."
This year marks Cardi's fifth Met Gala, and first since her breakup with Offset, with whom she shares daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus, 5, and son Wave Set Cephus, 2.
Though she admittedly had an intimate encounter with her ex on New Year's Eve, she shared afterward that their own private party time did not mean they were back together.
"I'm in my section, he's in his section," Cardi said in a Jan. 1 X (formerly Twitter) livestream. "So it's like, 'Man, just f--king come over here. Let's just chill. We're having a good time.'"
But, she noted, "I wanna start 2024 fresh" she shared at the time. "I'm curious for a new life, for a new beginning."
For now, though, giving the photographers what they came for at the Met Gala is a habit she has no reason to break.
Keep reading to see every look that made us speechless at the 2024 Met Gala:
Zendaya
In Maison Margiela.
Sydney Sweeney
In custom Miu Miu.
Cardi B
In Windowsen.
Kim Kardashian
In custom Maison Margiela Couture and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.
Jessica Biel
In Tamara Ralph.
Bad Bunny
In custom Maison Margiela.
Jodie Turner-Smith
In Burberry and Chopard jewelry.
Kylie Jenner
In custom Oscar de la Renta and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.
Kendall Jenner
In Givenchy Haute Couture and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.
Jennifer Lopez
In custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture.
Mindy Kaling
In Gaurav Gupta.
Ariana Grande
In custom Loewe and Lorraine Schwartz jewelry.
Shakira
In Carolina Herrera and Stuart Weitzman shoes.
Mona Patel
In custom Iris Van Herpen couture.
Janelle Monáe
In custom Vera Wang.
Dua Lipa
In Marc Jacobs and Tiffany & Co. jewelry.
Gabrielle Union
In custom Michael Kors.
Sarah Jessica Parker
In Richard Quinn and Philip Treacy hat.
Ayo Edebiri
In Loewe.
Gigi Hadid
in Thom Browne and Chopard.
Nicki Minaj
In Marni.
Jaden Smith
In Thome Browne.
Elle Fanning
In Balmain and Cartier jewelry.
Zendaya
In Givenchy SS96 Couture.
Ambika Mod
In Loewe.
Pamela Anderson
In Oscar de la Renta.
Cara Delevingne
In Stella McCartney.
Naomi Campbell
In custom Burberry.
FKA Twigs
In Stella McCartney.
Lea Michele
In Rodarte.