The Met Gala, which was held on Monday, May 5, 2025, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Reactions to the stars’ looks were just as en pointe as their clothes.
What is the Met Gala’s purpose?
In its Hunger Games-esque fashion, the Met Gala is the highly anticipated annual fundraiser event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. The event’s theme is always tied to that year’s fashion exhibition, and most of the invited guests match their custom outfits to the theme.
The event always manages to pull in big sums for the Costume Institute. According to the Met’s website, the Gala is the “main source of annual funding for the department’s exhibitions, acquisitions, and capital improvements.”
What is Black Dandyism?
This year’s theme was focused on Black dandyism, a historical style of dress that continues to this day. It is not simply about style; it’s a form of cultural resistance. Rooted in history, it reclaims the power of style.
As written in Vogue, “In a racially segregated America, the Black dandy’s outfit became a form of resistance, an elegant middle finger to a society that sought to define them by race, not character.”
The exhibition was inspired by Monica L. Miller’s book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. In the book, she wrote about Black history from 18th-century England to slavery, Emancipation, and on to the Harlem Renaissance, and how people reclaimed their identities through fashion.
“It’s really someone who is dedicated to dress, like they see dress as a discipline, in the same way viewing working out as a discipline or studying music as a discipline,” Complex Editor-in-Chief Aria Hughes told CBS News.
The key features of Black Dandyism include custom tailoring, bold color blocking and patterns, the fusion of many cultures, and bold statement accessories.
2025 Met Gala highlights
The biggest talk of the event was Rihanna revealing her third pregnancy with partner A$AP Rocky. KPOP fans were also excited, as many musicians, from Lisa to S.Coups (Choi Seungcheol), showed up dressed perfectly to the theme. Diana Ross returned to the event in full glam white gown and long cape that she designed herself, down to the crystal details and feather trims. Former Vice President Kamala Harris also made an appearance, though she skipped the blue carpet entrance, wearing a black and white dress designed by Off-White.
Social media reactions to the Met Gala
As always, folks on social media were hooked to see what the celebrity guests put together with their designers for the charity event. Common reactions covered everything from characters from a variety of fandoms such as Pokémon making an appearance, another character falling down the stairs, and people judging the Met Gala outfits from the comfort of their own beds.
Check out 32 Met Gala 2025 memes and reactions below:
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It’s started 😭 https://t.co/5LGd7jHYD0 pic.twitter.com/ZhJDFsbrk7
— justin (@jerstonfilm) May 5, 2025
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— ✧ fagatha✧ (@melokordei) May 5, 2025
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