Met Gala returns: A guide to fashion’s big night

It started in 1948 as a society midnight supper, and it wasn't even at the Met. Fast forward 70-plus years, and the Met Gala is something totally different, one of the most photographed events in the world for its head-spinning red carpet _ though the famous carpeted steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art aren't always red. We're talking Rihanna as a bejeweled pope. Zendaya as Cinderella with a light-up gown. Katy Perry as a chandelier morphing into a hamburger. Also: Beyonce in her "naked dress." Kim Kardashian in a face-covering bodysuit. Billy Porter as an Egyptian sun god, carried on a litter by six shirtless men. And Lady Gaga's 16-minute striptease.

Not to forget, the Met Gala is still a fundraiser _ last year the evening earned more than a whopping $16.4 million for the Met's Costume Institute. Let's also not forget that it launches the annual spring fashion exhibit that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the museum.
But it's the Met Gala carpet itself (now watchable for everyone, on livestream) that draws the world's eyes, with the guest list strategically withheld until the last minute _ a collection of stars from movies, music, fashion, sports, politics and elsewhere that probably makes for the highest celebrity wattage-per square foot of any party in the world.
Herewith, a primer for the 2022 Met gala, which is on May 2:

AGAIN, ALREADY?
Yes, we just did this in the fall. The annual fundraiser for the Met's Costume Institute is traditionally held the first Monday in May, but because of the pandemic, a postponed gala was held in September.

WHO'S HOSTING THE 2022 MET GALA?
This year's hosts are Regina King, power couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and Lin-Manuel...