Jennifer Garner reveals why she only attended the Met Gala once

Jennifer Garner has opened up about her singular Met Gala experience and why she hasn’t gone back since.

Recently, the actress appeared on an episode of Vogue’s Beauty Secrets, where she admitted that she only attended the Met Gala “exactly once” in 2007. “I found it a little scary, so I haven’t been back,” she said while going through her makeup routine.

However, she did go on to gush over the dress she wore to that year’s event, for which the theme was Poiret: King of Fashion. “I wore that night this magical red Valentino gown, and I was his date. That was really majestic and special,” Garner said of her attendance alongside designer Valentino Garavani.

The Met Gala is the annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. As a result, the price to attend the event can cost as high as $50,000 per person.

The actress isn’t the only person who’s made negative remarks about the fashion event. Demi Lovato attended their “first and probably last” Met Gala in 2016, where they were photographed in an awkward-looking encounter with Jeremy Scott and Nicki Minaj. Lovato later shared the image on Instagram, hashtagging it #notforme.

In 2018, the pop star opened up further about their experience at the gala. “This one celebrity was a complete b**h and was miserable to be around,” Lovato told Billboard. “It was very cliquey. I remember being so uncomfortable that I wanted to drink.”

Lovato, who’s famously been sober for several years, added that they went straight from the Met Gala to an AA meeting. “I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on – millions of dollars of diamonds in an AA meeting,” she said. “And I related more to the homeless people in that meeting who struggled with the same struggles that I deal with than the people at the Met Gala – fake and sucking the fashion industry’s d**k.”

Tina Fey is another celebrity who only went once in 2010 and decided to never go back. Speaking about her experience at the Met Gala with David Letterman in 2015, the comedian said: “I have gone to it once and it is such a jerk parade.”

“Clearly, I’ll never go again, but you go and it’s this beautiful space and it’s just every jerk from every walk of life is there wearing some stupid thing. You walk up these huge steps…and I went and I dragged my husband along with me too, which I’m still in trouble for.”

Just last month, Vogue announced the theme for the 2024 Met Gala, which will be “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”.

According to Vogue, the exhibit will be centred around 50 historically significant pieces, some of which are far too fragile ever to be worn again. These are the “Sleeping Beauties”.

Nearly 250 items will also be drawn from the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, featuring designs from Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Givenchy to span 400 years of fashion history.

“This innovative show will push the boundaries of our imagination and invite us to experience many facets of a work, to learn more about its history, and, ultimately, to gain a deeper appreciation of its beauty,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s Marina Kellen French director and CEO.

One of the most fragile pieces of the collection includes an Elizabethan bodice and a silk satin ball gown from 1877 by the American couturier, Charles Frederick Worth. In fact, these items served as the theme’s original inspiration. Although they’re too old to fulfill their original function, the bodice and satin ball gown will be present throughout the exhibit through display technology.