Why Were There So Many Corsets on the Met Gala Red Carpet?

From Kim Kardashian’s to Tyla’s, stars’ looks at the 2024 Met Gala last night featured an overwhelming amount of waist-cinching and body sculpting. But how much is too much?

Earlier this morning, Bazaar’s TikTok of pop star Tyla being carried up the steps at the Metropolitan Museum of Art quickly racked up over 12 million views. She had to be picked up and placed down, because her Balmain gown—a sand-covered, strapless column shape sculpted to her body—would not allow her to walk up the stairs. The look was a beautifully crafted piece of fashion and a major moment for the first-time Met Gala attendee, but it also seemed pretty uncomfortable.

The dress code this year was “The Garden of Time,” and Tyla—who accessorized with an hourglass purse—clearly had a blast with it. Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing eventually cut off the gown’s bottom half, so she could move more freely, creating another viral moment. Tyla’s dress might be the most talked-about look of the evening, though it had competition from Kim Kardashian’s impossibly cinched-waist Maison Margiela gown and sweater, which were custom-designed by John Galliano. Kardashian has worn tiny-waisted looks for the past three Met Galas, but this was the most extreme yet.

On social media, some commenters loved Kardashian’s and Tyla’s fits, while others were critical, saying these women were promoting unhealthy beauty standards. Many just felt uncomfortable watching them look uncomfortable. Whatever side of the coin you fall on, though, it is undeniable that both looks were giving peak bombshell.

At times last night, the red carpet felt like an evolving conversation around morphing and shifting natural curves. Corsets were everywhere, with some stars—like Ashley Graham in Ludovic de Saint Sernin—leaning into the bombshell archetype, and others taking a less literal, more nuanced approach.

Chloë Sevigny wore a brilliantly tattered Victorian gown by Dilara Fındıkoğlu that looked as though someone had ripped open the front, while Gigi Hadid’s lovely corseted gown, designed by Thom Browne, was fashioned with a skirt made to look like a jacket slipping off and landing crinkled upon the ground. Model Precious Lee enhanced her natural shape in a form-fitting velvet black gown with wings and bejeweled nipples by the emerging designer Terrence Zhou of Bad Binch TongTong. Zendaya’s opening and closing looks, also by Galliano, felt natural for her: corsets that didn’t alter, per se, but gave her a silhouette that fused contemporary and classic.

Taylor Russell’s incredible Loewe look was made from wood molded to her torso, and Paloma Elsesser wore a fantastical balloon-hem dress with a top sculpted to her form by H&M. Actor Ambika Mod’s custom Loewe dress was photoprinted with the shape of the classic corseted Charles James “petal dress.” Then, of course, there was Doja Cat, whose version of body-hugging, clinging fashion came by way of a literal wet T-shirt dress by Vetements. A slew of other corsets graced the carpet, maybe even too many to count here, including Sydney Sweeney’s custom Miu Miu, Uma Thurman’s beautiful butterfly gown from Tory Burch, and Lily James in a classic, feminine Erdem piece.

Why all the corsetry? Some of it is surely about the Met Gala’s ever-escalating virality wars. The annual event’s red carpet has increasingly become less about showcasing the artistic value of fashion and more about gaming internet algorithms for attention. In the best-case scenarios, these body-conscious looks can do both, offering a level of camp that promotes craft and beauty and glamour while simultaneously appealing to a universe of Gen Z kids glued to their live feeds, Googling “Kim Kardashian ribs.” Corsets and couture can be powerful modes of self-expression for a range of bodies and genders. Still, on such a visible night of fantasy-meets-reality fashion, there is always the danger that these intricately made, one-of-a-kind pieces will be reduced to mere stunts.

The intensity of sexiness on the Met Gala carpet has also gone full throttle over the last few years, which is interesting, considering that in the past, the glamazon sex vibes and naked dresses were typically reserved for the raucous after-parties and not schmoozing in the museum galleries. While it can be empowering for young people to see famous women celebrating their natural shapes and publicly embracing their sensuality, it can also be tricky not to take things too far and make it seem like the stars are trapped in their clothes.

What’s important to remember, as actor Jameela Jamil pointed out on Instagram today, is that it’s not on one woman or one celebrity to find the happy medium here. The people who make the clothes and dress the celebrities and stream the content—many of whom are men! And publications like us as well!—have a responsibility, too. At the very least, designers need to consider that their clothes, while immensely beautiful and created with artistic integrity, are being seen by millions of people who watch E! News and have no clue what a corset means within fashion’s own gated garden of time.

There is always room for balance, and maybe that’s what the Met red carpet could benefit from moving forward. Behind many of those surrealist hourglass shapes and hyper-cinched waists was powerful fashion with forward momentum. The most successful looks from last night were those that felt like feats of design, not just feats of endurance or spectacle.

Brooke Bobb

Fashion News Director

Brooke Bobb is the fashion news director at Harper’s Bazaar, working across print and digital platforms. Previously, she was a senior content editor at Amazon Fashion, and worked at Vogue Runway as senior fashion news writer.