At the 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 6, 2019, Cardi B embraced the evening’s “Camp: Notes on Fashion” theme in a custom Thom Browne gown with exaggerated proportions, intricate embellishment, and a sweeping feathered train.
The oxblood tulle-and-silk-organza creation was an anatomical, down-filled gown finished with custom Stefere ruby jewelry. It followed Cardi’s equally theatrical appearance at the 2018 Met Gala, where she wore a Moschino by Jeremy Scott gown with gold Gianvito Rossi G-String sandals.
Footwear has long been part of Cardi B’s fashion identity. Christian Louboutin’s red soles became inseparable from the imagery of her breakout hit “Bodak Yellow,” and she has worn the French designer on the red carpet, including Christian Louboutin Follies Lace pumps at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Cardi has said she is 5’3″ (160 cm) and wears a size 36.5 in Christian Louboutin pumps, making towering stilettos and platforms a recurring part of her red-carpet wardrobe.
Cardi B commands the 2019 Met Gala in a custom oxblood Thom Browne gown, its enormous feather-trimmed train creating a dramatic circular silhouette around her in New York City on May 6, 2019 (Credit: Andres Otero / WENN / Tony Forte)
Cardi B’s Thom Browne Gown and Custom Platform Brogues Define Her Met Gala Look
The gown featured a three-meter-long train with hand-embroidered bugle-bead detailing and 30,000 burned and dyed coque feathers. Stefere created the 44-carat ruby nipple jewelry, reportedly valued at $250,000.
Cardi B’s custom Met Gala look pairs Thom Browne’s feathered oxblood design with a beaded headpiece and 44-carat ruby nipple jewelry by Stefere
She completed the look with a beaded headpiece Browne created in collaboration with British milliner Stephen Jones.
The gown concealed another custom Thom Browne detail: Cardi wore platform brogues underneath its enormous train. Only a small portion of the footwear was visible beneath the hem, but the choice fit Browne’s longstanding habit of reworking traditional menswear shoes with exaggerated proportions.
His brogue-inspired footwear has since appeared on celebrities including Gigi Hadid, who wore pointed-toe Thom Browne heeled brogues, while other versions have incorporated sculptural heels, wingtip detailing, perforations, and substantial platforms.
Cardi B’s custom Thom Browne platform brogues barely peek out beneath the enormous feather-trimmed train of her oxblood gown at the 2019 Met Gala
Browne said the female form was central to his design. “I designed this dress for Cardi specifically because she has the ultimate beauty in a woman’s body, and that is what the dress is about for me: taking advantage of that beauty,” he told Vogue.
From Thom Browne Platform Brogues to Giuseppe Zanotti’s Harmony Sparkle Sandals
Cardi B’s custom Thom Browne platform brogues were almost completely swallowed by her Met Gala train, but her shoes were much more visible at another major appearance just five days earlier. At the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, she paired a crystal-covered yellow Moschino ensemble with Giuseppe Zanotti Harmony Sparkle sandals.
The crystal-embellished Harmony is a glamorous variation of Giuseppe Zanotti’s recognizable three-strap stiletto sandal. On Cardi, its slender straps echoed the crystals covering her Moschino bustier and skirt without adding another heavy element to an already elaborate outfit.
Cardi B paired a yellow crystal-embellished Moschino ensemble with Giuseppe Zanotti Harmony Sparkle sandals at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019
Cardi was the most-nominated artist at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards and won multiple awards, including Top Rap Female Artist and Top Rap Song.
How Cardi B Switches Between Sculptural Platforms and Barely-There Heels
The contrast between these two May 2019 appearances captures the range of Cardi B’s footwear choices. At the Met Gala, custom Thom Browne platform brogues provided a substantial foundation beneath a gown whose proportions virtually erased the shoes. At the Billboard Music Awards, the barely-there Giuseppe Zanotti sandals did the opposite, leaving the foot exposed while extending the crystal detailing of her Moschino outfit.
Browne’s choice of brogues was also distinctive on the red carpet. Traditionally associated with menswear, brogue detailing has become a recurring feature of his women’s footwear, often combined with unexpected heels and exaggerated proportions. YNS has documented the idea in later celebrity looks, including McKenna Grace’s black-and-white Thom Browne Spectator brogue heels and Rebecca Ferguson’s mismatched Thom Browne brogue-style platform pumps.
That range appears throughout Cardi’s own shoe archive as well. Just two days after the Met Gala, she returned to a cleaner silhouette for a Fashion Nova event in Los Angeles, pairing a white mini skirt and jacket with white Saint Laurent Amber stiletto sandals. Years later, she went in the opposite direction with six-inch metallic Jimmy Choo Max platform sandals at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.