You’ll Burn for Simone Ashley’s Nearly-Naked Dress at Met Gala 2026

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At the 2026 Met Gala, Bridgerton star Simone Ashley proved she's the real diamond of the season in stunning fashion. See what she wore on the red carpet at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Met Gala 2026 Dress Code Revealed

All is fair in love and war, but Simone Ashley is the victor of the 2026 Met Gala red carpet.

Celebrating the "Costume Art" exhibit's focus on the dressed body, the Bridgerton star ascended the iconic steps at New York City's Metropolitan of Art wearing only threaded silver chains on May 4.

Simone completed the nearly-naked look with bejeweled bracelets and chandelier earrings, dazzling like a diamond of the season. (Click here to see all the Met Gala fashion.)

And this isn't the 31-year-old's first time at fashion's biggest night. She made her debut in 2022, stepping out in a bronzed bodice and black skirt with a dramatic train from Moschino as a nod to that year's "Gilded Glamour" theme.

Simone returned two years later with a blue sequin gown by Prabal Gurung and a Rapunzel-like, knee-length hairdo in keeping with 2024 Met Gala's "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" exhibit. 

“The original idea was to create floor-length, super long hair inspired by Cher," her hairstylist Shon Hyungsun Ju told Vogue at the time, "but I adapted it as I was more inspired by Botticelli hair—more like a goddess with soft waves."

But Simone purposefully sat out on last year's Met Gala, telling her team, "'I want to focus on work.'"

"Life after Bridgerton has been so exciting," she told Vogue India in 2024. "I was doing all these unbelievable things, like going to the Met Gala and shooting fashion editorials. It was a whirlwind. There were days when I would think, ‘What is going on?’"

Simone continued, "I struggled to admit that I was overwhelmed because I’m a person with such clarity. I know exactly what I’m doing and what I want."

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

That includes working with Meryl Streep, playing the new assistant to the Oscar winner's iconic Miranda Priestly character in the newly released The Devil Wears Prada 2

“That was the magic," Simone said of the experience in a recent interview with Bustle, "to be able to just go home and share it with the people around me."

To see Simone and more stars at the Met Gala, keep reading...

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

A$AP Rocky

in Chanel. 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Rihanna

in Maison Margiela, Briony Raymond and Dyne jewelry.

Photo by John Shearer/WireImage

Jeremy Pope

in Vivienne Westwood. 

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Tessa Thompson

in Valentino. 

Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images

Odessa A'zion

in custom Valentino. 

Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Bad Bunny

in custom Zara. 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Marc Jacobs & Rachel Sennott

in Marc Jacobs. 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Ayo Edebiri

in Chanel. 

David Fisher/Shutterstock

Tyla

in Valentino. 

David Fisher/Shutterstock

Romeo Beckham

in Burberry. 

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Daisy Edgar-Jones

in McQueen. 

Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Chase Infiniti

in custom Thom Browne. 

Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Law Roach

in custom Ami painted by Naïla Opiangah. 

Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Image

Alexa Chung

in Dior. 

Photo by Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Tate McRae

in Ludovic De Saint Sernin. 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Cardi B

in Marc Jacobs. 

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Jennie

in Chanel.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Sarah Paulson

in custom Matières Fécales.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Elizabeth Debicki

in Vera Wang, Footwear for Film LTDA shoe and Verdura Jewelry tiara. 

David Fisher/Shutterstock

Jaafar Jackson

in Polo Ralph Lauren. 

Matt Baron/Shutterstock

Coco Jones

Matt Baron/Shutterstock

Kate Moss

in Saint Laurent. 

David Fisher/Shutterstock

Rami Malek

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Steph Curry & Ayesha Curry

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Teyana Taylor

in Tom Ford. 

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Kris Jenner

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Beyoncé

in custom Olivier Rousteing. 

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Blake Lively

in Atelier Versace.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Madonna

in Saint Laurent. 

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

Kim Kardashian

in custom Allen Jones and Whitaker Malem. 

Tune in to E! today, May 4, starting at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT for every must-see moment from the Met Gala 2026.

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