'Gilded glamour' at Met Gala 2022: Red carpet looks from fashion's biggest night

Actress Blake Lively paid tribute to New York City as a parade of stars celebrated American fashion and Gilded Age glamour at the annual Met Gala, a party celebrating the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York.

Known for celebrities in over-the-top outfits, the so-called Oscars of the East Coast returned on its traditional date of the first Monday in May, just eight months after 2021's pandemic-delayed event in September.

This year's A-list guests were told to dress in "gilded glamour" for the annual fundraiser for the museum. The Gilded Age was a period in the late 1800s of — for some — huge wealth in the United States.

Lively, a Met Gala co-chair along with her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, arrived in a glittering bronze-coloured Versace dress influenced by New York's Grand Central Terminal, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

The invitation-only Met Gala marks the opening of the annual fashion exhibition at the museum's Costume Institute. This year's exhibit, "In America: An Anthology of Fashion", caps a two-part exhibition and focuses on the history of American dress.

Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was attending for the first time in 20 years to celebrate the fashion and spirit of America. Her burgundy gown featured subtle embroidery of the names of 60 famous American women including abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Madeleine Albright, the late secretary of state.

Here are some looks from the night.