The Naked Dress Trend Gets an Unexpected Makeover on the 2026 Met Gala Red Carpet

Every fashion insider's 2026 Met Gala red carpet predictions included some twist on the naked dress trend: a totally sheer Saint Laurent slip for Zoë Kravitz; a completely see-through corset for Kendall Jenner; a cheeky mini dress for Sabrina Carpenter. Imagine my surprise when, by the time Rihanna's Maison Margiela look closed the carpet, hardly any A-listers had bared it all.

For an upcoming Costume Institute exhibit exploring the ties between human anatomy and fashion, there were surprisingly few naked dresses on the corresponding Met Gala's best-dressed list—or anywhere on the May 4 Met Gala red carpet. Instead, a tasteful new take on the naked dress trend took shape.

This time around there are suggestions of what's going on underneath a star's many layers. Baring it all is out; creative gesturing at the human form is in.

The 2.0 naked dress trend took a few different forms. Zoë Kravitz and Alex Consani hewed closest to its original definition. The newly-engaged actress chose a sheer lace Saint Laurent dress with extended panniers on her hips, while the model contrasted a wispy, semi-sheer Gucci corset bodice with a dramatic feathered train.

As the night went on, the naked dressing takes became increasingly experimental—and opaque. Chase Infiniti made her Met Gala debut in a trompe-l'œil Thom Browne dress that created a naked body with thousands of carefully-placed sequins. Beyoncé returned to the event for the first time in a decade resembling a disco X-ray, in a bedazzled skeleton dress constructed by Olivier Rousteing. Cardi B's Marc Jacobs dress was, technically, sheer—but the proportions were so bulbous and exaggerated through the shoulders and hips, it hardly constituted a classic naked dress. All three Kardashian-Jenner sisters in attendance—Kim, Kendall, and Kylie—concealed their torsos beneath sculpted breastplates. So did their close friend, Hailey Bieber, in archive-inspired Saint Laurent. You could say they freed the nipple on the Met Gala red carpet, just an artificial one.

At first glance, these allusions to the naked dress trend register like nothing more than a nod to the night's dress code and theme. The exhibition at the center of the 2026 Met Gala, "Costume Art," is partially devoted to a study of "Bodily Being in Its Universality"—curator-speak for the structures making up the general human anatomy. Of course stars would want to earn their points for doing their homework, by showing off a dress that blend technical craftsmanship with interpretations of the organs, bones, and systems defining the human body. Or, by referencing a work of art that's all about the body—like Kylie Jenner's Schiaparelli ode to the half-naked Venus de Milo statue.

But as more and more Met Gala guests held back from putting their own bodies on full display, it became clear that a bigger movement was at play. Naked dresses have been a Met Gala fixture since the 1970s; they've also shown up in countless permutations across every major awards show red carpet. For a while, it seemed celebrities could find infinite ways to shock photographers (and the internet) by draping themselves in sheer fabrics or artfully allowing a breast to fly free. The discourse around what constitutes a naked dress became so intense, they were even banned at the Cannes Film Festival last year—a policy intending to put focus back on the invitees' art, instead of their bodies.

But this is the thing about fashion: The moves that once felt transgressive or risqué eventually feel expected after enough time's gone by—even a naked dress as revealing as what Chappell Roan sourced from Mugler earlier this year. So for the Met Gala, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. Now, it's unusual—and exciting—for stars to manipulate and experiment with the limitations on exposing garments without fully exposing themselves in the process.

Make no mistake: The 2026 Met Gala red carpet didn't entirely kill the naked dress trend. A few guests, like Gigi Hadid, still wore nearly-entirely-sheer dresses into the Gala. Doja Cat even changed into a secret, second dress after walking the carpet in a latex coat.

But on the whole, last night's carpet just suggested there's a dedicated time and place for the sheer displays that have infiltrated events from the Grammys to the Gala and every event in between. Spoiler: It's the after-party.