Kelsea Ballerini made her Met Gala debut at the 2024 event on Monday evening (May 6), walking the red carpet in a floral Michael Kors gown in honor of the “Garden of Time” dress code.
Six years ago, however, Ballerini had a very different look in mind.
The award-winning singer-songwriter dreamt of one day attending the Met Gala. She wrote in a tweet posted on May 7, 2018: “I will wear a fish tank on my head and crocs on my feet...I just want to go to the #MetGala one day.” Ballerini shared a few glimpses of gala preparation on her Instagram story on Monday, and when one Instagram user brought back Ballerini’s 2018 tweet, the Subject To Change star simply confirmed, “no fish tank or crocs,” but she was “on the way” to the gala. She confirmed to iHeartRadio’s Emily Curl on the red carpet, “I think he likes it,” when asked what her boyfriend, Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes, thought of her look that evening. “I hope so because we’re here together. So, if he doesn’t, he’s a good actor. And he’s a good actor anyway.”
Though Ballerini opted not to wear a fish tank on her head, she was ironically on a date with Stokes at an aquarium when she found out she’d attend this year’s gala. Stokes told PEOPLE: “I had just flown from Morocco to Atlanta to do re-shoots for a movie with Netflix. It was a 26-hour travel day. I worked all day and then I had the next morning to do something. I was on the way to the aquarium with my girlfriend and we got the call. I was like, ‘Oh my God, we're going to the Met.’”
The theme of this year’s event was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” That’s the same title as the Costume Institute’s new exhibit, which features hundreds of rare items spanning more than 400 years of history, according to a recent report by Vogue. Other stars who attended the 2024 Met Gala included Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Lana Del Rey and many others. See the red carpet looks throughout the evening here.