Halle Berry’s stylist shared a message online after the internet collectively gasped over her 2025 Met Gala outfit.
The actress, 58, returned to the iconic Met steps for the first time since 2017. And for her big comeback, she posed on the red carpet in one of the most sultry ensembles of the night.
“Where are her undies?” internet trolls asked, while others said her outfit “needs a warning.”
Highlights
- Halle Berry's 2025 Met Gala outfit sparked both admiration and criticism.
- Both the actress and her stylist shared Instagram posts amid the backlash.
- Halle said she felt “powerful, purposeful, and proud” in the outfit.
- LaQuan Smith, who designed the dress, spoke about how the actress “pushed for” certain cuts.
Halle Berry and her stylist both shared messages after her outfit sparked both admiration and criticism
Image credits: iamlindsayflores
The Catwoman star wore a sheer striped dress with a plunging neckline to the annual charity event on Monday, May 5.
She donned a cropped tuxedo jacket when she arrived, but eventually took it off.
Her choice of leaving her panties at home sparked both admiration and widespread criticism.
Image credits: halleberry
Amid people calling her outfit “straight up trashy” and “wrong in so many ways,” her stylist Lindsay Flores shared pictures of the Catwoman star on Wednesday, May 7.
The pictures included Halle posing on the Met Gala red carpet with her boyfriend Van Hunt.
One photo also captured the actress with designer LaQuan Smith, the brain behind her peekaboo fashion.
Halle wore a dress designed by LaQuan Smith for her return to the Met Gala red carpet
“THEY FINE, THEY DANDY,” the stylist wrote in the caption.
Halle also shared a message on Tuesday, May 6, about her look and said she was “honored” to be designer LaQuan’s “muse.”
“[He] designed a gown that rose to meet the depth and strength of this year’s theme,” she wrote on Instagram.
The Catwoman star also shared a message about her dress after the dust settled on the high-profile charity event
Image credits: iamlindsayflores
Wearing the gown meant feeling “powerful, purposeful, and proud,” she added.
Fans admired her look, with one saying Halle and Van were their “two favorite outfits of the evening.”
“Confident. Powerful. Stylish and classy,” one described theactress’s’ look.
Image credits: iamlindsayflores
But critics tsk-tsked, with some calling it “cheap” and “disgraceful.”
“Halle... my girl. I expected more from you,” read one comment. “We get it. The body is bodying and you have aged like a fine, fine wine. But this is not the move.”
“A message for Halle Berry’s stylist: nobody wants to see her 58-year-old hootie. Nobody,” said one critic
Image credits: TheStewartofNY/Getty Images
Image credits: west53476
“… one thing about Halle, she ALWAYS gonna show up half nekked,” said another.
“Halle Berry's outfit was disgraceful. You could see her pubic area,” another wrote.
The theme for the 2025 Met Gala was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme, which honors menswear and Black dandyism, and the dress code was “Tailored for You”
Black dandy uses the impeccable tailoring and style as an act of resistance and pride.
LaQuan said Halle’s look was “a mix of s*xy Bond girl meets Harlem Renaissance”
Image credits: iamlindsayflores
Designer LaQuan said Halle’s dress reflected the theme’s “ethos” and was a “a mix of s*xy Bond girl meets Harlem Renaissance.”
He spoke about Halle’s collaborative spirit while they put her Met Gala look together.
Image credits: halleberry
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“She knows exactly who she is and has such a clear sense of style, but she’s also incredibly collaborative. During the fittings, she wasn’t just stepping into a garment—she was shaping it with me,” LaQuan told Vogue.
There were certain cuts that the Oscar winner “pushed for” so that she could move better in the outfit.
Halle was extremely involved in the designing of the dress and “pushed for” certain cuts
“We played with sheer panels to strike that perfect balance between elegance and edge,” the designer went on to say. “Her input was always intentional, always rooted in how she wanted to feel in the piece—not just how it looked.”
After the dust settled on the 2025 Met Gala, Halle’s Instagram post gushed over LaQuan’s design and thanked him “for creating something so breathtaking—and for allowing [her] to bring it to life.”
Image credits: iamlindsayflores
“LaQuan crafted a piece that felt like a poem—whispers of old New York, the shimmer of broken city lights, the unapologetic grace of Black Dandyism, and the boldness of claiming space in today’s fashion narrative,” she wrote in the caption.
In another Instagram post, she shared pictures of herself next to her boyfriend Van with the caption, “For me Van is the dandiest of all!”
“For me Van is the dandiest of all!” the Oscar winner said on Instagram
The actress made her Met Gala debut in 2017, wearing a sheer, body-hugging black outfit by Donatella Versace to match the theme of “Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between.”
She took a year-long hiatus before returning to the Met Gala this year and working up a storm on the red carpet.
Halle's sultry look sparked mixed opinions online
