Beauty
7 Times J.Lo’s Met Gala Hairstyle Stole The Show
Get excited for September 13th.
The first Monday in May might seem like an innocuous date, but for celebrities and the fashion-obsessed, it’s basically the Super Bowl. Though the Met Gala theme changes every year, the level of glamour and avant-garde fashion you see on the red carpet fashion stays the same. Among the many heavy hitters on your perennial must-watch list is Jennifer Lopez, whose hairstyles always turn heads about as often as her jaw-dropping dresses do.
The Met Gala is truly the perfect platform for J.Lo fans. While the singer-actor-entrepreneur rocks bold outfits on the regular, she’s also a seasoned beauty chameleon. You’ve seen her effortlessly wearing everything from body shimmer to curtain bangs and voluminous ‘90s-style ringlets — so her looks on the Met Gala red carpet are when she really turns up.
Reminiscing over past looks usually happens pre-summer, but, due to COVID-19 delays, the 2021 Met Gala is happening on Sept. 13th. The silver lining of waiting past May? Think of it as a blessing to help ease end-of-summer scaries. J. Lo is rumored to be in attendance alongside the usual gamut of A-listers this year, including hosts Timothee Chalamet, Naomi Osaka, Billie Eilish, and Amanda Gorman. The theme? In America: A Lexicon of Fashion — a broad subject that celebrates all things related to U.S. styles.
In anticipation of seeing what the star wears at fashion and beauty’s biggest day of the year, here’s a look back at Jennifer Lopez’s best Met Gala hair moments.
2004: A Braided Updo
For her appearance on the Met Gala red carpet in 2004, J.Lo opted for a slicked-back updo. The piece de resistance of the style was a braided bun that showed off her gorgeous complexion and statement red lips. The ornate hairstyle was a perfect fit for the year’s theme — Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion & Furniture, which celebrated the opulent aesthetic of the Mary Antoinette era.
2006: A Chic Middle Part
In 2006 the Met Gala theme was Anglomania — a celebration of all things British. For the event, J.Lo went for a more paired-down look: a ballet slippers-colored gown, subtle flushed makeup, and perfectly tousled strands divided into a middle part.
2007: Flapper-Style Glam
Designer Paul Poiret was a fashion mammoth at the turn of the 20th century. His stylistic contributions to fashion including moving away from the corset and embracing draping, flowing shapes — a moment the 2007 Met Gala celebrated him for. For her arrival on the red carpet, J.Lo went retro-glam and gave off flapper vibes with her sequined dress and loose curls adorned with a glitzy hair accessory.
2015: Long Lustrous Strands
In 2015, Lopez drove home the power of a simple, sleek, and lustrous ‘do. The musician and actor showed up for the China: Through The Looking Glass Met Gala theme sporting an opulent off-shoulder mesh dress with red sequin work. Her pushed-back hair, which was worn long and brushed back, was the cherry on top.
2017: A High Half-Pony
Lopez gave major Ariana Grande vibes with her elegant high ponytail at 2017’s Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between Met Gala. The thick updo, which left half of her strands flowing down her back, was a perfect complementary style to her high-neck powder blue gown.
2018: A Sleek Lob
One of the most iconic Met Gala themes of all time happened with 2018’s Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination (remember Rihanna’s papal miter?). For her part, J.Lo showed up in a maximalist fantasy of a dress — and she smartly paired it with a short and sweet sleek bob.
2019: A Sequin Wig
The last Met Gala theme before the pandemic hit was 2019’s Camp: Notes On Fashion. The theme elicited over-the-top looks and glamour: J.Lo stunned with a silver sequin and beaded wig in tandem with her glittering dress.
