Man-about-town David Spade had a laugh with Parker Posey.
Ellen Barkin's then-husband Ronald Perelman was her date but she stole away to compare fierce black dresses over wine with Connie Nielsen.
Michael J. Fox escorted his lovely Family Ties girlfriend-turned-wife (of now almost 35 years) Tracy Pollan.
Then going by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, the Bad Boy Records founder posed with supermodel Linda Evangelista.
Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn seemed like a total touchdown—especially after the football player's surprise 2000 proposal on The Tonight Show went viral before YouTube existed—but they separated in 2014 after 13 years of marriage and three daughters together.
A year before they got engaged, New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump and future third wife Melania Knauss attended their first of many Met Galas together. After Trump was elected president, however, event chair Anna Wintour said on The Late Late Show With James Corden that he wouldn't be welcome at the gala again on her watch.
Stephanie March was in attendance with then-boyfriend Bobby Flay, whom she married in 2005 and divorced in 2015.
Eve enjoyed the entertainment from the fanciest seat in the house.
Hilary Swank was still Mrs. Chad Lowe in 2003 and, though they split up in 2006, she scored a Best Actress Oscar win do-over and got to thank him in 2005 after forgetting during her first win in 2000.
Five years before she launched her eponymous line, Victoria Beckham went for the lingerie look at her first Met Gala, courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana, while Naomi Campbell came ready to party in bright-red fringe.
Charlize Theron showed why the goddesses should have worn shirt-dresses on Mount Olympus.
In the end, weren't we all happy that Keri Russell chose New York?