“I definitely like to intensify my eyes,” Sha’Carri Richardson had stated back in 2024 while talking about her love for makeup. So when it was time to grace the 2025 Met Gala, she made sure to accentuate her eyes with shades of purple—her late mother’s favorite color; She could see how “it would look good on me.” That was accompanied by her signature long nails by artist Angie Aguirre, who described her work as ‘a garden on fingers’ owing to the mini flowers included. Richardson was vibrant, unapologetic, and unmistakably herself, but it seems like her fans were expecting something more.

Her strong sartorial inclination is well known among track fans. Think about her one-of-a-kind track looks featuring flashy nails and colored wigs, as well as her presence at multiple global events. But unlike her 2021 appearance, did she miss the MET memo this time? This year’s theme of the MET gala was centered on “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Yes, you read this right, this was MET’s first event centered on Black history, style, and fashion. And Sha’Carri Richardson? Oh, she wanted to be on point! After all, it would be her first time as a Host Committee member for the event.

As she got ready at the Carlyle Hotel, Richardson was confident of her look. “My look is inspired by Black power — by Black women power,” she said while getting ready.“I want to represent the feminine power of Black women, and show that there is not just one particular way to be powerful and feminine at the same time.” So Sha’Carri Richardson showed up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing Valentino by Alessandro Michele. She rocked a dress with a cream-colored chiffon drape, Chantilly lace accents on it, and a huge bow on the back. The inner layer of the dress featured a lavender colored wisteria-lace bodysuit, with a high neck and full sleeves.

Her long, flowy, mermaid-like hair was embellished with small bows. Her smokey purple eyeshadow, pink blush, and glitter on her cheeks perfectly matched her dress. She topped it all with a shimmery lip gloss. The track and field star was more than happy with her look, though a certain section of fans on social media were not quite satisfied. “Working with Alessandro just felt like a team coming together; he understood that I am a powerful Black woman and that I want to push norms, and he definitely wanted to do the same thing,” Richardson revealed.

And the final touch to her look was a custom-made diamond-embellished grill. But when the outfit came to life, and she walked down the MET Gala 2025 carpet, many fans felt that something about the dress was off.

Sha’Carri Richardson’s MET 2025 look stirs fan debate

Commenting on her outfit post, one of the fans wrote, “Why? Would anyone even dress her in this!” Another one echoed a similar apprehension for Sha’Carri Richardson’s MET Gala 2025 outfit as they commented, “If missed the assignment was a dress.” But while fans may be of the opinion that the designer and Richardson both might have just missed the memo by a wide margin, the 25-year-old track and field icon had her own reasons for loving her drip.

Sha’Carri Richardson, who had been embracing her natural beauty off late, went makeup and fashion-heavy with her MET Gala look this time. But fans still were unimpressed. One of them commented, “That’s a fugly dress🤮”, while another one chimed in with, “Going straight into the worst dress list.” The dress was a total change from Richardson’s first MET look, where she had opted for a darker palette, a red corset, and a black fringed skirt. But even after switching things up this year, it seems like the look isn’t sitting well with her fans.

Now get this: while her dress drew a large part of the criticism, some other aspects of Sha’Carri Richardson’s look also featured, her matching lavender colored smoky eyes, and her wavy hair worn down open with butter-yellow colored bows all over. While these were the aspects that fans did not pinpoint as a miss, it was just the dress that they largely came up with suggestions for. One of them wrote, “The color aren’t meshing, there was so much potential if she went with a dark purple 💔”.

Elsewhere, another fan focused their ire on the styling, saying, “Her stylist hates her.” Richardson’s accessorizing – heart-shaped earrings with her long acrylic nails may not have been this fan’s cup of tea, but per Richardson, her nails at the MET Gala 2025 were “gorgeous, colorful, powerful, and me.” 

Maybe it was the color combination, or the materials used in the dress—lace and chiffon—that did not complement each other, causing such a strong fan sentiment. But the thing with Richardson is, she has pulled off a slew of different colors before. Haven’t we seen with wigs like a full orange one at the 2021 Olympic track and field trials? Or an electric blue one at the USATF Golden Games and distance open? Well, we have. So, what part of the outfit do you think caused negative fan sentiment this time? Let us know below!