Defining the Met Gala?
Technically the Met Gala 2025 has come and gone. And the start of planning next year’s event has begun. So, what’s it all about? The Met Gala specifically is a charity event and fundraiser for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. It has traditionally been timed to announce and stage the opening of the department’s annual fashion exhibition. Year after year, the event raises eight-figure sums not six but eight figure sums! This year, the proceeds have reportedly resounded $31 million, Accordingly, museum officials have reported that it’s the biggest gross in America’s most coveted event’s 77 year history.. . . And wouldn’t you know it?
Dandyism As the Met Gala 2025 Theme
The the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced in October 2024 that the Costume Institute’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Drawing inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, exhibition is organized into sections. Each of the 12 sections represents a characteristic that defines dandy style: Ownership, Presence, Distinction, Disguise, Freedom, Champion, Respectability, and ‘Jook’ defined in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Characteristics of Negro Expression,” encompasses an important in-depth look at Blacks inner being expressed outside of themselves. It holds the space for dancing, singing, drinking, talking, walking and other leisure activities), Heritage, Beauty, Cool, and Cosmopolitanism.
What it Is
The question is --what is Black Dandyism? A starched pressed shirt, The undeniably sharp creases of a tailored suit, the shine on polished shoes, or the sewn in crease on your favorite pair of jeans all scream dandyism. It isn’t just about looking good. It’s a commitment. It’s an allegiance that declares excellence and distinction. It is the defiance holding his/her space in a world that has long sought to oppress and recreate Black identity. Black dandyism is the natural expression of our being through lines, shapes, color, and textures capturing details and accents of ribbon, flowers or buttons and sometimes rhinestones steeped in history, intentionality and gratification.Dandyism in Black impact stretches far beyond the stylized presentation. It is a cultural statement reflecting the creative beings that Black folk are how they express their genius through fashion.
Exclamation!The 2025 Met Gala theme puts the thread in the needle clearly showcasing the part Black culture plays in shaping fashion and why we Met! Black dandyism is finally receiving the global spotlight it has long deserved.