Folks on social media are buzzing with the realization that numerous guests at the 2025 Met Gala sported the historical “haint blue” in their outfits.
The Gala was on Monday, May 5, 2025, and filled with A-list celebrities decked out in theme for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition. The theme of the day was Black Dandyism, which is a historical style of dress that combines elegance with cultural resistance. The key features of the style range from custom tailoring to bold colors, accessories, and patterns.
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.”
What is Haint Blue, and why does it matter?
Haint blue is more than just a soft pastel hue adorning Southern porch ceilings. It’s a spiritual holdover from African and Gullah Geechee traditions. According to Atlas Obscura, enslaved Africans on plantations originally cultivated indigo dye to create the color. They used the color to ward off “haints” and “boo hags;” malevolent spirits they believed slipped from their human hosts at night to harm the living. Haint originally comes from the word “haunt.” By painting porch ceilings haint blue, folks hoped to trick these spirits into mistaking the surface for water or sky, both of which they could not pass over.
While haint blue has since gone mainstream, marketed by paint companies like Sherwin-Williams, it remains a meaningful symbol for many people.
Which celebrities wore Haint Blue to the Met Gala?
Lupita Nyong’o is no stranger to the color and has worn it on multiple occasions. At Monday’s event, she wore the beautiful robin’s egg blue tone from head to toe. Nyong’o paired her light blue suit with a bold floral accent and a flat-topped hat.
Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin turned out, to the surprise of many. He wore a crisply-cut suit with haint blue gloves and accessories.
Even American rapper and singer-songwriter Shaboozey nodded to the pastel-toned tradition. He showed up in a black moiré suit with over 3K turquoise beads and nearly 3K black Swarovski crystals strung on chains. He topped off the look with turquoise details added to his grill.
Reactions to the haint blue Black Dandyism outfits
Folks on social media fell in love with the looks even more after learning their history. Sustainable historical costumer Emilee (@ourshieldmaiden) was one of the first to notice and share her excitement. Emilee is known for sharing and educating about the historical context for modern fashion. She shared a Reel on her Instagram page asking if people had noticed this color detail from the Met Gala.
The detail blew away many folks in her comment section, as it had flown under the radar for most people.
“I just got chills, because all of this 😮🫶🏽,” wrote @sk8_365_.
@shakespeareandme replied, “Seriously so cool how they incorporated this color!!”
Other people commented that they had been “waiting for a detail like this from the Met Gala.” Some noted that haint blue ceilings are common where they live.
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