The 22 Most Mind-Blowingly Luxurious Red Carpet Appearances of All-Time (9 of 12)

7. Rihanna: $3.97 million Guo Pei gown

RiRi ruled the 2015 Met Gala in a show-stopping yellow creation by Guo Pei. Forget the $3.97 million-dollar price tag, this canary-hued masterpiece was priceless. The voluminous gown boasted a train that seemed to follow Rihanna everywhere, blurring the lines between fashion and performance art. It instantly became the pop culture phenomenon that she remains to this day.

6. Kim Kardashian: $4.8 million Jean-Louis custom dress once worn by Marilyn Monroe

Kim Kardashian borrowed this iconic dress from the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, with strict instructions not to alter it. Despite some critics saying she shouldn’t have worn such a valuable and historic piece, she went ahead.

At the 2022 Met Gala, Kim graced the red carpet in the glittering dress, her hair dyed platinum blonde and styled to perfection. The homage to Marilyn Monroe was clear. “For me, the most Marilyn Monroe moment is when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to JFK. It was that look.”

Monroe originally paid designer Jean-Louis $1,440 for the custom dress. Christie’s auctioned it for over a million dollars as part of her estate sale in 1999. The dress sold again for a staggering $4.8 million at Julien’s Auctions in 2016, before being acquired by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum. It remains the most expensive dress ever sold at auction.