This should have been the morning where we woke up to a flurry of photos of some of the most famous people in the world, decked out in their finest as they made their way into this year’s Met Gala.

Regrettably, things didn’t quite work out that way, and the only thing making its way past the Met at the moment is a lot of tumbleweed, with New York – and much of the world – still on lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of the crisis, the Met Gala was postponed indefinitely, meaning we’re in for a long wait before we see the photos from the “About Time: Fashion And Duration”-themed bash (if ever).

But while we’re without photos, we’re here to help you paint a mental picture, with our rundown of the time-inspired outfits we think some of the famous guests would have worn…

Rihanna

Why not start with the Queen of the event herself? In recent years, Rihanna has become renowned for going all out with her Met Gala outfits, sticking to the themes more strictly than pretty much anyone else in attendance (as evidenced with her papal outfit above).

With that in mind, we can definitely imagine Rihanna embracing this year’s time theme with some sort of elaborate Salvador-Dalí-melting-clocks-inspired look, putting other stars’ half-arsed approaches to shame.

Either that, or go extremely meta and – because she missed 2019′s red carpet – use the “time” theme to wear what she would have worn 12 months earlier earlier, finally giving us the camp number we were crying out for this time last year.

Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik 

Unlike many of her peers, Gigi Hadid has actually at least attempted to stick to the dress code every year, so on a year where the theme is About Time: Fashion And Duration, we could definitely imagine her and Zayn Malik taking the opportunity to make some class of fashion statement to announce her pregnancy to the world.

And seriously, what better place can you think of than the Met Ball for Gigi to announce she’s expecting?

Katy Perry

Although her approach to fashion has come a long way since the days of One Of The Boys, Katy Perry often uses the Met Ball as a way of going back to her roots, and wearing something silly and more on the costume-y side.

With this year’s event having a “time” theme – not to mention she and British fiancé Orlando Bloom have a little one on the way – there’s only one thing we can imagine Katy in on that red carpet: a giant bedazzled Big Ben costume. Potentially complete with scaffolding, to give it that authentic 2020 feel (although we wouldn’t fancy sharing a table with her in that).

Billy Porter 

The fashion of the 1992 Tilda Swinton film Orlando – which included an elaborate Marie Antoinette-esque gown – was said to be a huge inspiration for the theme of this year’s Met Ball.

We imagine a few stars would have tried their hand at an over-the-top outfit influenced by the former Queen of Versailles, but none would have served quite as hard as Pose star Billy Porter.

Truly, the thought of him strutting in a towering wig and hoop skirt is the only way he could have topped last year’s entrance…

Lady Gaga

As the co-chair of last year’s bash, Lady Gaga pulled out all the stops with her outfit, slowly transitioning between not two, not three, but four different looks, each fitting the “camp” brief perfectly.

Had she been able to return in 2020, we could easily have seen Gaga revisiting the idea, and schooling us all on her specialist subject – only needing one person out of a room of 100 to believe in you fashion, obv – as she delivered reveal after reveal of iconic looks from across the centuries.

Meryl Streep 

One of the most gutting things about the Met Gala not going ahead as planned in 2020 is the fact that Meryl Streep was supposed to be a co-chair, marking what would have been her first time at the event.

We assume Meryl was never going to have gone with anything too garish or ostentatious on the red carpet, but as a co-chair, she’d have had to stay on message, probably keeping it classy with some sort of tasteful nod to a bygone era.

Either that, or she’d have gone all out and dusted her old Mamma Mia! outfit for the full throwback experience. 

Cher

There is quite simply no question that if Cher were to wind up on the guestlist for a “time”-themed fashion event that she would not get that giant wig and leather jacket out of storage.

Still a staple of Cher’s live shows, the iconic look (as seen above) doubly fits the bill not just because it’s a throwback outfit, but also because If I Could Turn Back Time could not be a more perfect anthem for the 2020 Met Gala… or any event, for that matter.

Madonna

Even though her Met Gala outfits aren’t always exactly appropriate for the theme, no one can say Madonna doesn’t make an effort when it comes to the annual bash.

That being said, we think “Time” is one theme the Queen of Pop might actually commit to, probably using the opportunity to sport an outfit referencing one of her countless reinventions from over the decades (and quite probably sending off a strongly-worded email to her creative team the following morning when she spotted that Cher had the same idea).

Jared Leto

Jared Letoalways commits, so this year he’d definitely have done full period dress, possibly carrying a functional stone sundial to really hammer his point home.

He’s known for going fully method too, so we could also imagine him kicking off with photographers on the red carpet when their flashbulbs stop him from telling the time on his sundial (probably to then be caught sneaking looks at a phone he’d stashed somewhere on his person).

Shawn Mendes 

We’re thinking… a blue suit, maybe with a small clock pin on the lapel. 

Cardi B

In recent years, Cardi B has loved throwing on some high-fashion couture, but wearing it in her own unique way, so when the theme is “time”, we have a very clear vision for what she would bring to the occasion.

We’re thinking an enormous, over-the-top, floor-length number – like the above – but somehow incorporating several alarm clocks, which would go off multiple times over the course of the evening, each time sparking a huge cackle from Cardi, and zero laughs from anyone on the surrounding tables.  

Kim Kardashian

Let’s be real, Kim Kardashian would probably have done her usual trick of wearing a figure-hugging dress with little to do with the theme of the evening.

When someone on Twitter suggested that her simple outfit’s design was actually a nod to her “hourglass” figure, Kim would quote-tweet them with the message “FINALLY someone got it”, despite this not having not occurred to her for even a second beforehand. 

Kanye West

Again, Kanye West would probably do his usual dressed-down thing at this year’s Met Gala, but with the addition of a digital watch, which he would gesture to repeatedly in front of as many photographers as possible, just to get the world’s fashion bloggers off his case. 

Karlie Kloss 

We reckon Karlie Kloss, true to form, would walk the red carpet in something very, very pretty, but with little-to-no relation to the actual event itself.

When a journalist on the red carpet asked her about the theme, Karlie would misunderstand, and think they were asking her for the actual time.

Naomi Campbell

Renowned as one of the best dressed women in the world, Naomi Campbell would unquestionably wear something glamorous, extravagant and quintessentially Naomi.

When questioned why she strayed from the night’s theme, the supermodel would reason that as someone who already defies time by arriving late to almost everything, she’s already the living embodiment of the theme. And honestly, who would argue with her?