There are always a few wild-card looks at the Met Gala, and this year was no exception; you can always count on Katy Perry for a sartorial surprise, and boy, did she ever deliver at the 2026 Met Gala.

This year’s “Costume Art” Met theme provided the perfect opportunity for Perry to pair a simple Stella McCartney gown with some pretty major props, including a set of tarot cards and a face-obscuring mask that was reminiscent of a fencing helmet:

Perry has always been reliably on-theme for Met Galas past; her Jeremy Scott-designed crystal chandelier look from the “Camp: Notes on Fashion”-themed 2019 Met Gala is still one of the event’s all-time most memorable ensembles, and who can forget the giant cheeseburger she changed into post-dinner? (As I always say, wear the snack you wish to devour at the Met after-party.)

Tarot and fencing each have a long and illustrious history in art, with artists including Leonora Carrington and Irving Penn depicting tarot readers in their work and French painter and illustrator Émile-Antoine Bayard depicting female sword fighters in his 1884 painting The Duel—and make sure to add Perry to that list, because after all, what finer artistry is there than slaying a Met Gala look?

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