Culture

All The Best Memes About This Year’s Extremely Baffling Met Gala

"Technically Grimes bringing a weapon to a completely unnecessary occasion is the most American thing ever."

by Michelle Rennex  14 September 2021
Met Gala 2021 Memes

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This year’s Met Gala theme was ‘In America: A Lexicon in Fashion’ and if you don’t understand it, don’t worry — it seems that most of the attendees didn’t quite get it either.

The theme for the charity event, that’s held annually to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, was basically a tribute to American fashion and an opportunity for attendees to spotlight American designers. However, many attendees wore European fashion houses and gowns that didn’t nod to America in any way.

But even with the theme being all over the place, there were some truly stand-out looks.

There was Billie Eilish wearing a blush princess gown on the red carpet in exchange for Oscar de la Renta stopping fur sales. Gemma Chan paid homage to Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese-American actress, while NikkiTutorials paid tribute to trans advocate Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson with her floral number. Then, of course, Lil Nas X served not one, not two, but three iconic looks on the carpet.

But as with anything good, there’s also the baffling and bad — and I’m not just talking about Nicki Minaj’s weird anti-vax story about her “cousin’s friend’s” massive balls that almost derailed the whole gala.

I’m talking about moments like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s baffling all-black shadow ensembles. The whole “Kim Petras is dressed as a literal horse” thing. Hell, even Grimes deciding to brandish a massive sword on the red carpet for reasons that still aren’t clear.

Oh, and there was also the collective panic that happened around the world when we all thought Queen of the Met™️ Rihanna potentially might not be attending. Spoiler alert: Thankfully she did arrive… just fashionably late.

So are all the best memes about the 2021 Met Gala in all its bonkers glory:

Until next year, y’all.

Image credit: Jamie McCarthy / MG21 / Getty Images