The 2006 Met Gala's "AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion" exhibit explored the ideals, stereotypes, and representations of Englishness by displaying historical costumes alongside late-20th- and early-21st-century fashions. It examined the craze for all things English, known as "Anglomania," which gripped Europe during the mid-to-late 18th century. England was perceived as a land of reason, freedom, and tolerance by figures such as Voltaire and Montesquieu. Through the lens of fashion, the exhibit delved into aspects of English culture, including class, sport, royalty, eccentricity, the English gentleman, and the English country garden. The museum galleries presented historical costumes alongside clothing from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, creating a series of theatrical vignettes staged in The Metropolitan Museum's English Period Rooms.