Fashion’s most gilded night, the 2026 Met Gala, comes with a set of golden problems — like when someone has to use the bathroom.
At an event where stars are zipped, sewn and sucked into their outfits, peeing is a logistical nightmare that involves careful planning, emergency backup and avoiding any liquids for as long as possible beforehand. The hottest topic of conversation isn’t who is getting the best bathroom selfie; it’s who is successfully using the bathroom.
For most attendees, using the bathroom isn’t as simple as slipping into a stall. In fact, there’s actually a full business behind getting down to business.
The extravagant gowns often require a full team effort to remove — and sometimes are left completely on the floor.
Many of the biggest stars have their own assistants on site for this specific reason, Brian Daniel, founder of the Celebrity PA Network, told the Washington Post. While the lavish event staffs plenty of “freebie assistants” who typically help with dress trains, most celebs would only bestow the honor of a collaborative bathroom excursion on someone they know personally. Intel that some really appreciated.
“This is journalism!!! It’s the only Met Gala story worth reading,” said one X user of the Post’s “investigation.”
Some designers try to get ahead of the problem by creating discreet “trap doors” that are sometimes built into gowns, allowing stars to go without completely dismantling the look.
“The true heroes in these situations are often the designers and tailors,” stylist Mickey Freedman told the Washington Post, adding it’s a major concern for anyone he dresses and often a conversation that is had beforehand. But when you’re wrapped in layers of beading or latex, there’s only so much engineering can do.
So celebrities improvise and go with the flow.
Katy Perry previously admitted that it takes a lot of “self-control” and her secret weapon, GoGirl, a little “contraption” that allows women to pee standing up. Winnie Harlow revealed Perry even helped hold her dress up in a stall — proof that in the Met bathroom, even A-listers become each other’s assistants. In 2022, Emma Chamberlain told Jimmy Fallon that the entire ordeal can take an hour, leaving everyone exhausted afterward.
Even Kim Kardashian had a “pee plan” in her 2019 Thierry Mugler gown, where she admitted her fluid exit strategy of peeing her pants and having her sister wipe her leg if it came down to it. Kendall Jenner, on the other hand, embraced the stream in a sprinter van using an ice bucket on the way to the gala in 2022.
“That is so mortifying for whoever has to deal with my pee later, I’m so sorry,” Jenner said on an episode of “The Kardashians.”
It’s ironic that more than the way the outfit looks, many stars look forward to the ease with which their bladder can be stress-free. Sabrina Carpenter, who attended the Gala for the third time last year, said after the performance that she’s most excited to pee. The singer had never actually been able to use the bathroom due to the limitations of her previous looks.
Pete Davidson, who wore a tunic-style look one year, joked that it made things easy: just lift and go.
For everyone else, though, the safest strategy might be dehydration. Many attendees simply avoid drinking liquids altogether — a trade-off that keeps gowns intact but leaves little room for comfort.
It’s also uniquely on trend that boycotters of the Jeff Bezos-hosted event strategically placed urine bottles around the Met recently, not so much as a knock to attendees as to the Amazon staff who reportedly don’t get bathroom breaks.
So while the Met Gala dazzles with fantasy, the reality is a little more human, and apparently covered in urine.
“Those designer gowns are not bathroom-friendly,” said one user on Reddit. “I also bet every one of them went straight for food after the event. Also probably went to take a good s–t.”
As we sit at home calculating who wore the best outfit, stars are likely calculating how to avoid a fashion emergency.
Because wearing the look is one thing.
Holding it is another.
