The Met Gala’s five odd rules celebrities must follow
Ali Condon
Featured Image Credit: UPI / Doug Peters / Alamy Stock Photo
We're just hours away from 'fashion's biggest night out' as the red carpet is rolled out for this year's Met Gala.
This year's theme is Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, in honour of the late fashion designer, and will be hosted by Penélope Cruz, Michaela Coel, Roger Federer, Dua Lipa, and, of course, Anna Wintour.
While the stars get ready to show off their Met Gala red carpet looks - that hopefully actually match the theme - here are some of the strict rules they have to follow when they arrive...
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1) No selfies please
While thousands of photographs are taken at the Met Gala as attendees arrive in fantastic outfits, don't even think about taking your own photos because no selfies are permitted.
Anna Wintour issued that ban back in 2015 in the hopes of keeping the inner workings of the Met Gala top secret.
"The use of phones for photography and social media will not be permitted inside the gala," read a notice from Wintour, per The Independent.
Naturally, this rule has been broken numerous times, and there's always one celeb who risks bringing a group of friends and their cell phone to the toilet for some very discreet selfies that later find their way onto Insta.
2) You have to be a certain age to attend
If you are under-18, then tough luck, you aren't allowed to attend.
This was first enforced back in 2018, with that year's theme being 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination'.
A Met Gala spokesperson later confirmed the age restriction was introduced as 'it's not an appropriate event for people under 18'.
3) Smoking is not allowed
Thirdly, no smoking is allowed at the event.
This came after the likes of Bella Hadid, Dakota Johnson and Marc Jacobs were pictured smoking in the bathrooms at the 2017 event, with guests the following year reminded that it's 'illegal to smoke in the museum'.
It should be noted that smoking indoors in New York City has been banned since 2003, and prior invitations to the event have reiterated this.
4) Certain foods are banned
There are certain food items banned from the event, according to the New York Post, such as parsley, so to avoid it getting stuck in anyone's teeth before photos.
Onion and garlic are also banned in order to prevent bad breath, and other dishes which could easily spill onto dresses and whatnot.
No parsley, no onion, no garlic? Is the food at the Met Gala even good??
5) There's a strict seating arrangement
If you get to the event and aren't a fan of who you've been sat next to, then tough, because seating arrangements are strictly maintained, with a lot of 'power-brokering' in the planning beforehand.
"A lot of thought goes into who sits next to who, if they sat together last year, if they've sat next to each other at other events, so much goes into it, it's shocking," Sylvana Ward Durrett, director of special projects at Vogue, said in the 2016 documentary The First Monday in May.