Sydney Sweeney Reveals the '60s Reference Behind Her 2025 Met Gala Red Carpet Look
She posted a snap of her reference photo ahead of the carpet.
Anyone But You star Sydney Sweeney wasted no time getting the 2025 Met Gala fashion updates going. Before the official Met Gala livestream began, she had swept out of The Carlyle Hotel to ascend the Metropolitan Museum of Art's red carpet steps in honor of "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" in a midnight beaded gown.
Sweeney's longtime stylist, Molly Dickson, hadn't shared the exact designer behind her look at press time—but within minutes, her Met Gala favorite Miu Miu was revealed as the house behind her custom look. Here's what's immediately obvious as well: shoulders dripping in beaded fringe, a train that glistens like starlight, and a peek-a-boo cutout set with gold detailing. The actress's hair made for one of the best Met beauty moments of the night, slicked into a bun at the center of her head and set with kiss curls at the front.
Sydney Sweeney departed the Carlyle Hotel ahead of the 2025 Met Gala.
Sweeney was one of the first stars on the Met Gala carpet.
While Sweeney's team embarked to the Met Gala from her hotel, the star took a few minutes to share the inspiration behind her look. On Instagram Stories, she posted a snap of Kim Novak wearing a costume from the 1968 film The Legend of Lylah Clare. It's the same stunning dress Joan Crawford wore several years before, in the 1940s film The Bride Wore Red.
Sweeney's dress modified the reference image with a larger embellishment closing the cape-like section. Her dress's train is also a tad longer—and features more three-dimensional beads.
Chatting with Vogue for its annual livestream, she explained her strategy for tying this '60s homage to the night's "Tailored for You" theme. Sweeney is set to play Novak in an upcoming film, Scandalous!, directed by Coleman Domingo, a co-chair of the event. She shared that he even assisted her and Molly Dickson with selecting her 2025 Met Gala look.
Kim Novak wearing a dress that inspired Sydney Sweeney's Met Gala look.
A closer look at Sydney Sweeney's Met Gala gown.
Sydney Sweeney made her Met Gala debut in 2022, when the dress code was "Gilded Glamour." She channeled her inner Cinderella by choosing a strapless white Tory Burch dress.
Two years later, Sweeney was nearly unrecognizable in a tulle Miu Miu dress and elbow-length opera gloves at the 2024 Met Gala. Not because the dress was such a swerve from her personal style—but because she paired it with a cropped black bob.
Last year, Sweeney wore custom Miu Miu to walk the red carpet.
As one of the first arrivals of the night, Sweeney marks the start of a fashion marathon: one to be defined by sharp suiting, rare vintage looks, and hat-tips to the tradition of Black Dandyism (the subject of the corresponding exhibit for tonight's gala). The Euphoria star got the evening off to a glittering start.
