The fabulous fashion of a glamorous gala

The Met Gala brought together stars of stage, screen and music

The first Monday of May is a big day for fashion. So get your blue carpet attitude ready and I’ll tell you a bit about the annual Met Gala in New York City.

The event is held as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. It’s considered the biggest night of fashion — not even the Oscars, the Emmys or the largest runway shows can compete.

It dates to 1948 and the celebrities (including those from music and movies) are walking art exhibits. Diana Ross wore a shimmering white gown with an 18-foot-long train; actor Colman Domingo wore a black-and-white suit jacket topped with a blue choir robe-type outer cover; singer Rihanna donned a daring suit altered to show off her baby bump.

This is an AI-generated image of a woman in an extravagant gown that wouldn’t be out of place at the Met Gala. (AI image courtesy John Naughton.)

This year’s theme announced by the Met was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”

The fashion style known as Black Dandyism provided a foundation for many of the designer outfits. A “dandy” is a very showy way of dressing, meticulous in detail and aimed to draw attention. Black Dandyism’s roots go back to Black Americans who used outrageous, inventive fashion to let their clothes do their talking (a particularly revolutionary idea when they were discriminated against).

In the 1940s, men began wearing zoot suits — stylish and somewhat cartoonish long suit jackets with showy chains and accessories. If you want a history lesson, look up zoot suit riots.

Many of this year’s Met Gala outfits drew inspiration from men’s zoot suits and women’s fashion icons like Josephine Baker, Kim Novak and Bianca Jagger.

While I might be called a dapper or dashing dresser, my duds can’t approach some of these looks.

(Editor’s note: I didn’t want to pay a fortune for actual photos from the event. I did use an AI image generator for photos that approach the style of them.)

This is an AI-generated image of Black Dandyism, the theme of the 2025 Met Gala. (AI image courtesy of John Naughton.)