Madame X was another popular figure at the 2026 Met Gala, and Julianne Moore, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Claire Foy, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley all attended the event dressed in their own takes on the controversial figure.
In 1884, John Singer Sargent painted a portrait of the young socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau titled Madame X. In the original work, Gautreau was depicted in a black dress with a dramatic, sweetheart neckline, a fitted waist, and jeweled straps. One of those straps, however, was haphazardly falling off Gautreau’s shoulder. That may seem like nothing in the era of naked dressing, but in the late 19th century, when the portrait was displayed at the Paris Salon, it was considered vulgar. The backlash was so bad that Sargent reworked the painting and altered the strap so it was securely placed on Gautreau’s shoulder. Now, Madame X, which resides in the Met, is considered the American Mona Lisa, so it’s no surprise it was referenced multiple times on the Gala’s red carpet.
Moore tapped Bottega Veneta for her recreation, wearing a simple black dress with a white strap that hung off her shoulder, while Foy went for a similar effect with her Erdem design. Sánchez Bezos, meanwhile, was the most true to Madame X’s original silhouette, and her Schiaparelli gown featured similarly jeweled straps, one of which draped her upper arm. Huntington-Whiteley, in Burberry, meanwhile, ditched the straps altogether, a concept the people of 1880s France likely wouldn’t have been able to comprehend.
