Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
In one of the more memorable scenes in The First Monday in May, the new documentary about the making of the Met Gala, Vogue’s director of special events Sylvana Ward Durrett delivers this gem of a line while contemplating the 2015 event’s invite list: "Josh Hartnett? What has he done lately? Nothing."
Indeed, a ticket to the Met Gala is extremely difficult to come by these days, even if you're a celebrity, since the Vogue team goes to great lengths to ensure only top-tier stars attend. Basically, unless you’re a seriously boldfaced name, you’ll have to buy your way in — which will set you back at least $25,000 for a single ticket.
But it wasn’t always that way. Back in the late '90s and early aughts — a golden age for celebrity culture, if you ask me — the guest list for the Met Gala was a little less, shall we say, exclusive. For proof, check out the gallery above.