Cardi B Channels Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel with 2 Gowns at Met Gala

Jul 21, 2023

The rapper rocked a pair of show-stopping ensembles before she arrived at the 2023 Met Gala and on the carpet to honor this year's theme, "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty"

Cardi B went big at the 2023 Met Gala in not one but three showstopping gowns (with a fourth look for the afterparty).

The 30-year-old rapper left her hotel wearing a plunging, bejeweled pink dress with a matching oversized tulle headpiece and two Matara rings, and arrived on the carpet in a white-and-black floral ballgown.

For the latter look, she wore a silver wig and a chunky black headband with matching gloves and a face full of Pat McGrath Labs makeup done by Erika La Pearl. She said of her outfit on the Vogue carpet livestream, "The texture of this skirt, it's giving like a Chanel boy bag, and then it got the flowers, the camellia flower."

She continued, "You know when you get a Chanel purse, it always got the white flower. But you know this one is black. And then up top here it's giving Karl, so I'm representing the house of Chanel and Karl at the same time."

Both of her ensembles respectively channeled what Karl Lagerfeld and model Lily-Rose Depp wore for the 2017 Chanel haute couture Spring/Summer show, in keeping with the night's "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" theme.

Her homage to Lagerfeld continued inside of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which now exhibits around 150 of his greatest outfits across his prolific six-decade career, including working for Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel and his own eponymous label.

Cardi B's third outfit of the night was all about tweed, a Chanel signature. She wore a pink-and-black houndstooth bodycon dress designed with a plunging neckline, plus gemstones down the bodice and around the hem. Pearl necklaces and a Bhansali cross pendant covered her décolletage and she carried a Christian Louboutin clutch and Ariel Taub clutch.

"What makes the night so special... it's like a designer that ... you know so well. And then it's just like I was curious to see how people are gonna rock this," the musician said. "Everybody got like their own interpretation of how things supposed to look tonight...I really liked the looks for tonight. People killed it so far."

Be sure to check out all of PEOPLE's Met Gala coverage to get the latest news on fashion's biggest night.

And then, not content to have already set the record for most outfit changes of the evening, she slipped into a spaghetti-strap newsprint dress and Loree Rodkin necklace for an afterparty at The Box, which she attended with husband Offset.

Cardi B is always a must-see on the Met Gala red carpet. At 2022's event, she made quite the statement for the event's "Gilded Glamour" theme.

The "Up" rapper arrived on the red carpet in a glittery gold Atelier Versace gown featuring gold chains throughout her dress, around her neck and on her arms.

According to a release from the brand, "a mile of golden metal chains" were stitched to the nude tulle fabric — a "hand-craft process that took 20 members of the Atelier 1,300 hours to complete."

"This is what I wanted to give," said Cardi of her head-to-toe gold look. "I wanted to give woman, and Donatella [Versace] brings that woman."

Cardi — who gave birth to her second child, son Wave Set, in September 2021 — continued, "No lipo surgery could bring this body that my son gave me .... It's giving, it's giving, it's giving."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

She said she was "feeling spectacular" as she thanked Versace and wished the designer a happy 67th birthday.

"I feel like a lot of fans don't get the theme because they think 'Gilded' is supposed to be like an era, but gilded is gold, it's regal, it can be any era. I love it," Cardi continued.

"This is one of the most speculator dresses Versace did," the designer said. "The chains embroidered, the jewelry ... she's so brave to wear it because it's so heavy. But look at her body, she's insane. Only her, she can wear it."

Prior to 2022, Cardi's last appearance at the Met Gala was in 2019, when she wore a full-body custom oxblood Thom Browne gown that featured a train that extended outward in concentric circles for about 10 feet.

According to Vogue, the gown, which was made from tulle and silk organza filled with down, took 35 people more than 2,000 hours to create and is embellished with 30,000 feathers.

RELATED VIDEO: The Best Met Gala 2022 Red Carpet Looks

She made the look complete with a beaded headpiece that Browne made in collaboration with Stephen Jones.

"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," Browne told Vogue.

Cardi B attended her very first Met Gala in 2018, showing off her baby bump just months before she and husband Offset, 31, welcomed 4-year-old daughter Kulture.

She made a grand entrance alongside Moschino designer Jeremy Scott (in a matching getup!) wearing a jeweled crown with spindles and a gown with a high collar, long-sleeves and gloves all covered in intricate beading inspired by tapestries and embroideries from ecclesiastic vestments. She accentuated her baby bump in the form-fitting design and made a statement as she walked the steps with her ballgown skirt cascading behind her.