Michelle Williams Sports Cotton-Candy Pink Hair at the 2024 Met Gala

Why just change your outfit when you can change your hair color too?

At the Met Gala on Monday, May 6, Michelle Williams debuted a new ‘do: short, pastel pink hair. It was a big change from her typical platinum blonde style.

Williams, 43, stepped onto the event’s green carpet in a short white Chanel dress that featured a long train made of layers of tulle. The neck and shoulders were sheer, with four pearl buttons.

She accessorized her pink pixie cut with a silver headband, secured in the back with a white ribbon. She finished the look with silver heels for a fun and playful vibe and kept her makeup simple to ensure that her pink hair would remain the focal point.

Monday’s dress code was “The Garden of Time,” inspired by a short story by JG Ballard. The theme for the Costume Institute’s exhibit is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” and focuses on delicate creations from over 400 years of fashion history that are rarely seen or worn again.

But many Met Gala attendees let the exhibit’s title spark their creativity and went with looks that had an obvious fairytale inspiration behind them. Williams’ delicate, flowing dress evoked a fairy or other mystical, ethereal spirit. 

The Emmy winner has often attended the Met Gala, but this is her first appearance at the annual event since 2018, when she attended the “Heavenly Bodies”-themed event. She also attended the gala in 2016, 2014, 2013 and 2011.

See all of PEOPLE’s Star-Studded Met Gala Coverage in One Place!

Last year, Williams made headlines thanks to her performance narrating Britney Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me. "This book has been a labor of love and all the emotions that come with it,” Spears said in a statement to PEOPLE at the time. “Reliving everything has been exciting, heart-wrenching, and emotional, to say the least. For those reasons, I will only be reading a small part of my audiobook.”

"I am so grateful to the amazing Michelle Williams for reading the rest of it,” she added. Williams received an Audie Award nomination for her performance. 

Williams went seemingly dateless on Monday night, but she has been married to director Thomas Kail since 2020. She and Kail, 47, met while working on the TV series Fosse/Verdon. They share two children, plus Williams’ daughter Matilda, 18, who she shares with the late Heath Ledger. Last June, the couple attended the 2023 Tony Awards together. 

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Williams is currently filming the upcoming FX miniseries Dying for Sex. In the show, based on the podcast of the same name, she plays a woman with breast cancer who gets a divorce in order to explore her sexuality.

Williams received her fifth Oscar nomination last year for her role in 2022's The Fabelmans. She told PEOPLE at the time how she found out about her nomination: "I was at home. It was a school morning, so I was getting the kids ready to go and then got the news and took a little break lying down on the floor.” 

"And then I got back up, and got everybody out."

See all of PEOPLE’s Star-Studded Met Gala Coverage in One Place!