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Maggie’s finally found peace in Nova Scotia — but Cal’s past is catching up fast. Here’s how to watch Sullivan’s Crossing season 3 online from anywhere in the world
Will Tadej Pogačar claim his 9th monument and second of the year in Liège? Here's how to watch a 2025 Liège-Bastogne-Liège live stream from anywhere, including global streaming options, key start times, and how to follow the action online
The fashion-forward adventure Infinity Nikki is finally coming to Steam on April 29, complete with its iconic photo mode. The Steam version launches alongside a major update called Bubble Season that brings some new features to the game on all platforms.
First and foremost, Bubble Season will introduce co-op play. This two-player mode lets a pair of friends explore the entire game world. There will be unique co-op puzzles and new escort missions.
The update brings a new area and, of course, a whole bunch of new outfits to collect. Publisher Papergames is also bringing back some old outfits from previous seasons, for those who missed the boat. There’s even a new fashion runway gameplay mechanic with new interactions for photo mode.
Finally, Bubble Season adds a new dye mechanic, which changes outfit colors. We don’t know exactly how this will work, but it looks to add even more customization options. Again, all of these features will be available on April 29 for PC, mobile and PS5.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/infinity-nikki-is-coming-to-steam-and-getting-a-co-op-mode-185014372.html?src=rss
The Legend of Ochi feels like a film that shouldn't exist today. It's an original story, not an adaptation of an already popular book or comic. It's filled with complex puppetry and practical effects, something many films avoid because CG is simply easier to deal with. And it evokes some of the scarier children's films of the '80s and '90s, like the nightmare-inducing adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches.
According to Isaiah Saxon, the film's writer and director, it was a struggle to get The Legend of Ochi made. "The attempt to make the film took longer than the making of the film," he said in an interview on the Engadget Podcast. " I think it's extremely hard to reach kids with your first film because kids are kind of behind this kind of corporatized IP world now. But I really wanted to reach kids with my first film and, and so that's why it took so long."
Whenever he received a bit of funding for the film, Saxon says he used it to prototype creatures with London's John Nolan Studios, which has built animatronics for films like Jurassic World Dominion, as well as scouted locations in Romania. "And so, through the three-and-a-half years of this work before I got a green light [to make the film], I had then accrued this visual package that was kind of undeniable," he said. "That's when A24 finally just said, okay we're gonna be bold and risky and this isn't what anyone normally does, but we're gonna believe in you here."
The result is a film that feels incredibly personal and distinct. It centers on a young girl, Yuri (Helena Zengel), who is growing up in a tiny village on the island of Carpathia. There the people fear the Ochi, mysterious primates who live in the forests and attack farm animals. Her father Maxim (Willem Dafoe in another unhinged A24 film performance) is a conservative, overly-macho man who leads a band of boys to hunt Ochi. Oh yeah, and he occasionally wears Viking armor.
The film begins with the Ochi, who from afar look like menacing monkeys. Yuri was raised to fear them, but after encountering one young Ochi, she begins to reject everything her father taught her. It also helps that the creature looks adorable, with large eyes and protruding ears, it's a bit like TheMandalorian's Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda), but with fur. The infant Ochi is also a complex puppet created by John Nolan Studios, and it looks uncanny at first, since these days we expect it to be computer generated. But it's clearly a physical object, with actual facial movements that Yuri can react to.
A24
"Puppetry is such an ancient art form," Saxon said, when I asked why he pushed to make the Ochi a puppet and not a purely CG creature. "We've been making shadows on the cave wall for thousands of years, and our brain as we watch the human hand give life to a character is just fully accepting of it."
"And then there's also the charm of the failure space of puppetry. Even when you're not doing it just right, it feels alive. And especially for this baby primate, we found immediately as we were testing the puppet, that the little imperfections that came through rod puppeteering were actually exactly the way that a little baby monkey would be just discovering how to move their own body."
A24
Creating a believable puppet is just one problem though, another is orchestrating it effectively on a movie set. "[John Nolan Studios] pushed the limits of what you could do at a really small scale with animatronics," Saxon said. "We were able to prototype for years to build these creatures. And then on set, we have extensively rehearsed every single scene with all these puppeteers. There's five on the body led by Rob Tygner, who's doing the head, and he's kind of calling out the internal monologue of the animal — all its thinking, all its vocalization — so that everyone can sync."
Another two people control the puppet's face while staring at monitors, so there's a challenge to making them all work as one entity, Saxon says. The film's sets are also built to hold all of the people who control the Ochi puppet, and who often need to be hidden from view. And then there are the suit performers. "We have small people in ape suits with hand extensions with heavy animatronic heads that they can barely see out of. They're hot and they're out in the Carpathian wilderness in the mountains of Transylvania," Saxon said.
After seeing what he accomplished with The Legend of Ochi, it's not hard to see Disney tapping Saxon for something in the Marvel universe, like it has with so many independent filmmakers. But that likely won't happen. "I've already said no," Saxon remarked in regards to making a Marvel film, and he also has no desire to make anything based on an existing IP.
Saxon isn't entirely against using digital tools, despite his obvious love for puppetry. The Legend of Ochi still uses CG for distant shots of the Ochi, and for creating virtual sets. "I've also, over the years, learned CG and I've made purely animated 3D films. And I know the software myself and I know that it's a bespoke craft art that is tedious and full of love and attention to detail."
"It doesn't get the respect it deserves," he added. "And that's partly because there's been a kind of corporatization and overuse of CG a lot.” Saxon says he was well aware a CG character couldn’t carry the film, but he also knew that it was the best way to create a 3D river that didn’t exist in Romania. (It’s also reminiscent of the music video he directed for Bjork’s “Wanderlust.”)
"You have to look at each opportunity and come to the technique organically for the task. You can't have philosophies about this."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/it-feels-alive-the-legend-of-ochi-director-on-the-power-of-puppets-183043579.html?src=rss
Food at the grocery store seems expensive — until you go out to eat. If you’ve decided to get more use out of your kitchen, we know of a few handy gadgets to make cooking at home easier, quicker and probably more fun. As food lovers and tech reviewers, the Engadget team has tried out pizza ovens, sous vide machines, air fryers, ice cream makers and more. This list gathers up the best of what we’ve tested and reviewed in our own kitchens and serves as a great place to start as you zhuzh up your cooking situation. We’ve also linked to our reviews and buying guides so you can dive deeper into our recommendations for the best kitchen gadgets around.
Best kitchen gadgets for 2025
Nicole Lee contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-kitchen-tech-gadgets-small-appliances-124515179.html?src=rss
Meta is finally acknowledging that Facebook’s feed is filled with too many spammy posts. In an update, the company says it plans to start “cracking down” on some of the worst offenders. “Facebook Feed doesn’t always serve up fresh, engaging posts that you consistently enjoy,” the company writes. “We’re working on it.”
Specifically, Meta says it will lower the reach of creators that share posts with "long, distracting captions” as well as posts with captions that are irrelevant or unrelated to the shared content. These accounts will also no longer be eligible for monetization. Likewise, the company says it’s taking “more aggressive” steps to combat “spam networks that coordinate fake engagement.” This includes making comments from these accounts less visible, and removing Facebook pages meant to “inflate reach.” Meta is also testing a feature that allows users to anonymously downvote comments in order to flag them as not “useful.”
The update comes as Meta is trying to revamp Facebook to make it more appealing to “young adults.” The company recently brought back a tab for friends content, in an update Mark Zuckerberg described as making the platform more like “OG Facebook.” Notably though, Meta’s update doesn’t mention one of the more persistent forms of engagement bait that’s emerged on Facebook over the last year: AI slop.
The phenomenon, which has been extensively documented by 404 Media, involved bizarre, often nonsensical AI-generated images — like the now infamous “Shrimp Jesus” — that serve little purpose other than to farm engagement for people trying to make money on or off Facebook. These spammers are often aided by Facebook’s own algorithm, which boosts the posts, researchers have found.
AI slop and engagement bait aren’t the only types of low-quality posts that have overwhelmed users’ Facebook feeds in recent years. I regularly see posts from pages that seem to do nothing but screenshot old Reddit posts from r/AITA, or recycle old news about celebrities I don’t follow or particularly care about. Meta’s reports on the most widely-viewed content on its platform regularly feature anodyne posts that are engineered to rack up millions of comments, like those that ask users to comment “amen” or solve basic math equations. Posts like that may not fit neatly into Meta’s latest crackdown, though it’s unlikely many Facebook users are actually enjoying this content.
The company does note it’s also trying to “elevate” the creators that are actually sharing original content, including by cracking down on accounts that steal their work. But given how much easier it is to make AI slop than good original content, it could be a long time before Meta is able to get Facebook’s spam problem under control.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-finally-acknowledges-that-facebook-has-a-major-spam-problem-175304372.html?src=rss
A laptop keyboard and Facebook on App Store displayed on a phone screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Poland on October 8, 2024. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Infinity Nikki’s next update will add some major new features. Bubble Season starts April 29th and will include a new area, new activities, and, of course, new (and returning) outfits. But the biggest addition is one that fans have been asking for since launch: co-op. Check out the trailer above.
In the new season you’ll be able to have dress-up adventures with a friend in two player co-op mode. You can travel the world of Infinity Nikki together, solving special co-op mode puzzle games and participating in escort missions. Players will also prove they’re the most stylish one in the group chat with a fashion runway and new interactions that players can use in all the photos they’re going to take.
Like every new Infinity Nikki season, there will be special outfits to collect – though none of them inspire in me the kind of fanaticism that the cowgirl outfit from two seasons ago did. (Which I did get without spending any money. Hooray!) For the first time though, IN is also bringing back outfits from previous seasons for players who missed out on them and for newbies to build up their wardrobe quickly.
Speaking of wardrobe, Infinity Nikki is catching up to the MMO girlies by implementing a new dye system. In Bubble Season, players will be able to use dyes to change the color of their outfits the same way one can in World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV. No word on exactly how dyes will work or if they will be yet more things to spend your precious currency on. But I am interested in the potential of getting new colors for my clothes without the hassle of the current system, which involves the expensive and time consuming process of collecting duplicate outfits.
Bubble Season starts April 29th and if you’re one of the folks waiting for the game to come to PC, the Steam version of Infinity Nikki launches that day too.
Maybe, like me, you bought the Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage and realized, after installing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, that you don’t have much (or any) space left for any other games. And maybe, like me, you had to hunt for another drive so you could install other games to play.
If you’re still in that boat, you might want to consider Western Digital’s 2TB WD_Black NVMe solid state drive. It’s currently on sale at Amazon for an all-time low of $179.99 ($50 off), or about 22 percent off the standard price, and will provide you with plenty of additional storage to work with. To put the price in perspective, it’s only $30 more than the 1TB version, which isn’t on sale. WD is also one of two manufacturers I’m aware of that make these easy plug-in cards — the other is Seagate.
There’s no fiddling around with screws or anything to get it to work, either. Just pop it into the back of your Xbox Series S / X, and bam, you’re good to go. Plug and play at its finest, baby.
But let’s pivot to another good deal real quick.
Amazon and B&H Photo are also selling Apple’s brand-new M4 MacBook Air, which just launched in March, starting at $899 (its best price to date). That’s $100 off Apple’s starting price of $999, which itself is already $100 cheaper than the entry-level price of the M3 model last year.
And, with the M4, you get 256GB of starting storage instead of 128GB, which is probably fine for most folks who don’t need a lot of local storage. Like me, for example. I’m using an M2 MacBook Air for work, and I only have 82GB used.
The latest M4 model also has a better 12-megapixel Center Stage camera that will follow your face around while you’re on camera (better said: it’ll keep you in frame) and 16GB of RAM. The design is unchanged from last year, which means you’re still getting just a MagSafe charger and two USB-C ports. But the update to M4 allows you to add two external monitors while also leaving the display open, for a total of three running screens. Good for multitasking.
It’s a MacBook Air. It’s the best MacBook for most people. You really can’t go wrong here.
Kim Kardashian has been to 11 Met Galas in her career.
The Skims founder has gotten bolder with her looks for the ball over the years.
Her 2022 Marilyn Monroe look was her most iconic Met Gala look to date.
The first Monday in May is quickly approaching, which means one thing to fashion fans: it's time for the 2025 Met Gala.
The annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute will take place on May 5, and stars will arrive in their interpretations of the event's "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" theme.
One of the most exciting aspects of the gala is seeing how repeat attendees keep improving their looks for the event year after year. Few stars have as interesting a track record with their Met Gala red carpet looks as Kim Kardashian.
From a floral gown at her first ball to her controversial ode to Marilyn Monroe, take a look at Kardashian's Met Gala looks ranked from least to most iconic.
Kardashian's blue evening gown for the 2014 Met Gala was lackluster compared to her other looks.
Kim Kardashian at the 2014 Met Gala.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
After being turned into a couch meme at her very first Met Gala the year prior (more on that in a second), Kardashian chose to play it safe for the 2014 theme, "Charles James: Beyond Fashion."
Alber Elbaz designed her custom Lanvin gown, which featured a black satin belt and a thigh-high slit.
The gown was undoubtedly pretty and would've looked great for a movie premiere or awards show, but it was nothing special for a night that encourages celebrities to push the envelope.
Kardashian's ensemble was actually supposed to look completely different. She revealed on her now-inactive website that the gown was originally made of "this amazing leather with metallic detailing." Her design team only decided to redo it in blue satin at the last minute.
Kardashian still planned to pair her new gown with a chunky belt and leather cuffs, but she ditched them before walking the red carpet because, according to E!, they were "a bit too rock 'n' roll."
As a Met Gala novice, it was clear Kardashian didn't want to rock the boat too much on the carpet. Still, we wish we could've seen the far edgier look she envisioned in 2014.
Kardashian's 2016 Met Gala gown was flashier but still didn't push the envelope.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2016 Met Gala.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Kardashian wore a metallic silver Balmain gown with a thigh-high slit for the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" theme in 2016.
We loved the fabric of the silver dress, and Kardashian took a bit of a risk with her beauty by bleaching her eyebrows. However, the look didn't stand out among a sea of similar metallic looks.
Kardashian was also overshadowed by her date, then-husband Kanye West. The rapper made headlines that year for daring to wear denim to the Met Gala.
When looking back on her Met Gala looks in 2019, Kardashian revealed that she felt insecure ahead of the event because she hadn't "lost all of my baby weight" after giving birth to her son Saint in December 2015, which is likely why she stuck to her usual silhouette.
Kardashian wore another metallic gown to the 2018 Met Gala.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2018 Met Gala.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
The "Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination" Met Gala will likely go down as one of the boldest in the event's history. Stars like Rihanna, Ariana Grande, and Blake Lively delivered stunning looks referencing everything from the Pope to the Sistine Chapel.
Because of all the eye-catching looks, Kardashian didn't make waves with her custom gold Versace dress, although the number did nab her a few spots on best-dressed lists.
Kardashian personally designed the chain-mail gown with Donatella Versace, and we loved the dark eye makeup and high pony she paired it with.
While the reality TV star hadn't yet mastered how to steal the show at the Met Gala, her style was definitely becoming a little bolder.
The star's simple Vivienne Westwood dress at the 2017 Met Gala shocked fans and critics alike, for all the right reasons.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2017 Met Gala.
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images
At first glance, Kardashian's off-the-shoulder white dress for the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between" theme might seem even simpler than the gowns we've already discussed.
But the chic and beachy outfit, which Kardashian paired with sandals and minimal makeup, felt like a statement from the reality TV star. On a night when everyone would dial it up and go avant-garde, Kardashian decided to do something completely different — and it worked. One headline praised Kardashian's "seriously toned down" look.
"I figured everyone was going to go really over the top, and I just wanted to be really simple," Kardashian, who attended the event without West for the first time, told Vogue on the red carpet.
The 2017 Met Gala also happened just a few months after Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, and $11 million in jewels were stolen from her hotel room. The simple Vivienne Westwood dress and her lack of accessories felt like a statement from Kardashian, who later discussed the trauma she experienced from the robbery.
Kardashian brought major drama and glamour to the 2015 Met Gala.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2015 Met Gala.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Designed by Peter Dundas, the dress was covered with strategically placed crystals and featured a long train of white feathers. Kardashian revealed on Instagram that her inspiration had been Cher's iconic 1974 Met Gala outfit.
Other naked dresses were popular on the red carpet that year. Stars like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez won praise for their sheer numbers, and Rihanna had the most standout look of the night by upstaging everyone with her custom Guo Pei gown — now one of the most iconic Met Gala looks of all time.
But Kardashian's gown was bold, stunning, and told a story. It was the first inkling of her realizing she could become a force on the Met Gala red carpet.
Kardashian's gown for the 2014 Met Gala would have fit the "Garden of Time" dress code perfectly if she hadn't added a shrug to it.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2024 Met Gala.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Kardashian wore a custom John Galliano dress to the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" gala, which had a "Garden of Time" dress code.
Kardashian's look leaned into the garden aspect of the dress code, though it clearly had a through-line to her previous Met Gala looks as well.
Like dresses she wore in previous years, the gown was metallic and featured a dramatic, waist-cinching corset. Floral detailing adorned the strapless bodice, while the floor-length skirt was made of interlocking, floral appliqué that showed peeks of Kardashian's legs. Her blond hair added to the edgy feel of the look.
The gown was well suited to the theme, but the gray shrug Kardashian wore atop looked disjointed with the rest of the look. The outfit would have been stronger if Kardashian had let the dress speak for itself.
Kardashian nodded to the early days of fame at the 2023 Met Gala.
The strings of pearls created a halter-style bodice and barely-there skirt, which sat atop taupe shapewear.
Lagerfeld often gravitated toward pearls in his designs, making the ensemble an apt choice for the ball. However, the look also referenced Kardashian's 2007 Playboy shoot, for which she posed only wearing pearls, so it made even more of a statement.
Kris Jenner said her now meme-ified comment, "You're doing amazing, sweetie," to Kardashian during the shoot, as captured on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
Kardashian also celebrated her Skims empire with the shapewear she wore under the pearls, using the Met Gala as a platform for her own success. The company was worth $3.2 billion as of 2022.
Kardashian made a statement about her fame at the 2021 gala.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2021 Met Gala.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Kardashian arrived in the most jaw-dropping look of the night at the 2021 Met Gala with the theme, "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion." Her Balenciaga bodysuit and oversized T-shirt dress covered her from head to toe, including a face-covering mask and gloves.
She was only visible in silhouette, with her ponytail and a train flowing behind her as she walked the Met Gala carpet.
It was an instant meme because of its avant-garde nature. Still, Balenciaga's creative director, Demna Gvasalia, later explained that the outfit was designed to highlight how iconic Kardashian's body had become in pop culture.
"People would know instantly it was Kim because of her silhouette. They wouldn't even need to see her face, you know?" Gvasalia told Vogue at the time. "And I think that the whole power of her celebrity, that people wouldn't need to see her face to know it's her."
The form-fitting dress Kardashian chose for the 2019 Met Gala looms large because of the controversial efforts she took to wear it.
Kim Kardashian at the 2019 Met Gala.
Doug Peters/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Kardashian arrived at the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" gala in a Thierry Mugler gown that hugged her figure and was adorned with crystals. The dress appeared sheer, as it matched her skin tone.
After the gala, Kardashian revealed she went to extreme lengths to wear the skin-tight dress, including taking corset lessons to breathe in it.
She also couldn't go to the bathroom in the dress, and in a clip from "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," she said she was willing to urinate on herself in the gown if there was an emergency.
The dress was pretty, but Kardashian's drastic measures made the dress so memorable.
Kardashian's floral gown for her first Met Gala in 2013 was one of her most memorable outfits, even though it was criticized then.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2013 Met Gala.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
Kardashian made her Met Gala debut in 2013 when she was expecting her first child, North West.
The gala's theme was "Punk: Chaos to Couture," and Kardashian wore a long-sleeve, floral Riccardo Tisci dress. It had a high neckline, which contrasted with its daring, thigh-high slit. Matching, open-toe shoes completed the look.
Kardashian told Vogue in 2019 that Tisci wanted the floral pattern to symbolize sending a pregnant woman flowers, which she said was "such a sweet message." Tisci also told Kardashian that Anna Wintour wanted her to wear the floral dress, so she did.
Social media users immediately took to Twitter to criticize the look after Kardashian walked the red carpet. Many compared the dress to a couch, to the star's dismay.
"I was crying, like, the whole way home because I just couldn't believe it," Kardashian said in the same interview with Vogue.
Looking back at the dress, Kim has a different perspective. "Now I love it," she told the magazine. "Now it's, like, sick."
Although it wasn't for the reasons she wanted, Kardashian was the talk of the event from her very first Met Gala, which was even more impressive considering she was attending as Kanye West's date.
Of course, Kardashian's most iconic Met Gala look was her 2022 dress that originally belonged to Marilyn Monroe.
Kim Kardashian attends the 2022 Met Gala.
John Shearer/Getty Images
Kardashian made headlines when she arrived at the 2022 "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" Met Gala in the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
The sheer Jean Louis dress was embellished from head to toe, and Kardashian dyed her hair platinum blond to fully recreate Monroe's look.
"In a sense, it's the original naked dress. That's why it was so shocking," Kardashian told Vogue of the gown.
She borrowed the dress from Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, which acquired it for $4.81 million in 2016, according to a Ripley's press release. Kardashian wore the gown on the red carpet, but she changed into a replica immediately after because it was so fragile.
Kardashian once again took extreme measures to fit into Monroe's dress. She said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks so she could wear it.
The conversation around the dress continued for weeks after the Met Gala, as people accused Kardashian of damaging the gown when she wore it.
In June 2022, Ripley's and Kardashian sent Business Insider a joint statement saying she "did not, in any way, damage the garment in the short amount of time it was worn at the Met Gala."
Kardashian solidified her status as the Met Gala it-girl with her Marilyn Monroe look, which was truly a once-in-a-lifetime fashion moment.
Rihanna has been to 10 Met Galas throughout her career.
She has become one of the most iconic stars at the annual event thanks to her jaw-dropping looks.
Rihanna last attended the gala in 2023 in a custom Valentino gown with a coat made of flowers.
Met Gala season is upon us.
Fashion's biggest night will take place on May 5 this year. A-list stars will flock to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in eye-catching, themed ensembles, raising money for the museum's Costume Institute.
For 2025, the gala's theme is "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," celebrating dandyism and menswear. It's not confirmed who Anna Wintour invited to the event this year, though arguably, no star's attendance is as hotly anticipated as Rihanna's, as she always splashes on the Met Gala red carpet.
Rihanna skipped the 2024 event, but her fans and fashion enthusiasts hope the Fenty Beauty mogul and singer will return to the Met Gala red carpet this year, especially since her partner A$AP Rocky is a cochair.
Take a look back at the looks Rihanna wore to the 10 Met Galas she has attended so far.
Rihanna debuted at the Met Gala in 2007 wearing a simple but pretty Georges Chakra gown.
Rihanna attends the 2007 Met Gala.
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
The white gown had a halter neckline with silver embellishments on the bodice.
She paired the dress with black mesh gloves and a red rose to fit the "Poiret: King of Fashion" theme.
It was an understated look compared to other outfits Rihanna wore to the Met Gala in the years to come.
In May 2009, she wore a bold suit designed by Dolce & Gabbana.
Rihanna at the 2009 Met Gala.
WWD/Getty Images
The suit included a jacket with puffy sleeves, a bow tie, and ankle-length pants. She paired it with black gloves and black pumps.
The jacket's dramatic, oversize shoulder pads fit the event's "The Model as Muse" theme. Rihanna's edgy pixie cut completed the chic look.
For May 2011's "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" theme, Rihanna wore a sparkly, lacy gown.
Rihanna at the 2011 Met Gala.
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
The semi-sheer dress designed by Stella McCartney had a scalloped, one-shoulder neckline and a slit on the skirt, showing off her criss-cross pumps.
The gown was eye-catching, but Rihanna's long, bright-red side-braid gave the look a pop of color.
Rihanna's Tom Ford gown for the 2012 Met Gala featured scaled detailing.
Rihanna at the 2012 Met Gala.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
The form-fitting gown Rihanna wore to the "Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations" gala had long sleeves, a boat neckline, and flowed to the floor.
It hugged Rihanna's figure, and the gown's texturing caught the light as she walked the red carpet.
The singer returned to the 2014 "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" gala in a Stella McCartney set.
Rihanna at the 2014 Met Gala.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Rihanna's two-piece featured a long-sleeve crop top with pointed sleeves and a high-waisted skirt with a side train. She wore a sparkly choker that blended with the neckline of the dress.
The ensemble's backless crop top felt modern and fresh.
For the 2015 gala, Rihanna pulled out all the stops in an extravagant Guo Pei design.
Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Rihanna solidified her status as a Met Gala legend at the "China: Through the Looking Glass" gala.
Her custom yellow look sat off her shoulders. It featured faux fur sleeves and trim, and intricate detailing adorned the ensemble.
The singer making her way down the red carpet while her long train flowed behind her will always be an iconic Met Gala moment.
In 2017, Rihanna wore her most avant-garde Met Gala look, a dress covered in giant floral embellishments.
Rihanna attends the 2017 Met Gala.
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The 2018 Met Gala theme was "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between." Rihanna appropriately went with a Comme des Garçons design.
The dress was made entirely of colorful, three-dimensional petals that floated around her. Rihanna paired the look with red heels, lacing her thighs, and pink-toned makeup.
Rihanna didn't disappoint when she co-chaired the Met Gala in 2018, arriving in a Margiela ensemble that seemed to be inspired by the Pope.
Rihanna at the 2018 Met Gala.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Rihanna's jewel-encrusted silver look featured a mini dress, a separate, longer skirt, and a jacket. A large, pointed headpiece and silver jewelry coordinated with the look.
Rihanna made a statement in a couture coatdress as one of the last celebrities to arrive at the 2021 Met Gala.
Rihanna attends the 2021 Met Gala.
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Demna Gvasalia designed the Fenty founder's custom Balenciaga coatdress. Its collar popped around her shoulders, and the skirt was a subtle mermaid.
Rihanna paired the look with a beanie hat, a diamond necklace, and a stunning crystal headpiece.
Rihanna arrived at the 2023 Met Gala in a dramatic white gown and coordinating coat.
Rihanna at the 2023 Met Gala.
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Rihanna wore a custom Valentino Haute Couture gown to the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" gala.
The gown's form-fitting bodice showed off her baby bump with a rosette in the center, though Rihanna covered it with a hooded, rosette-covered jacket and fingerless gloves when she walked the red carpet. Her dropped-waist skirt flowed into a long train, which trailed behind her on the carpet.
Rihanna completed the look with funky sunglasses that had eyelashes on them.
Taylor Swift has attended six Met Galas to date, making her debut at the event in 2008.
Some of her Met Gala looks have fallen flat, while others stood out on the red carpet.
Her most recent Met Gala look was her most iconic, in part because of its significance in her music.
The fashion world is abuzz as the 2025 Met Gala is swiftly approaching.
A-list celebrities, billionaires, and athletes will gather at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on May 5 for the annual fundraiser. Chaired by Anna Wintour, it raises money for the museum's Costume Institute.
The Met Gala red carpet is always exciting for fashion fans, as celebrities reveal their interpretations of the event's dress code. For 2025, stars will put their spin on the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" theme.
The guest list is always kept secret before the event, so fans don't know which celebrities will walk the red carpet. Taylor Swift has been absent from the gala since 2019, and it's unclear if she'll break that streak in 2025 — and bring her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, for his Met Gala debut.
Whether she attends in 2025 or not, Swift's legacy at the Met Gala has already been solidified. Take a look back at all the looks she's worn to the event, ranked from least to most iconic.
Swift's white dress for the 2010 Met Gala was simple.
Taylor Swift attends the 2010 Met Gala.
Rabbani and Solimene Photography / Contributor / Getty Images
Swift's white Ralph Lauren gown featured a pointed neckline, ruffled, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and a coordinating skirt.
The dress was pretty, but it didn't stand out in a way that fit the "American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity" on the red carpet.
Likewise, instead of elevating her outfit with accessories, Swift wore minimal jewelry and kept her hair in a demure updo.
The singer upped her game slightly for the "Savage Beauty" theme at the 2011 Met Gala.
Taylor Swift attends the 2011 Met Gala.
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Swift arrived at the "Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty" gala in a one-shoulder J. Mendel gown. The dress mixed taupe and frayed, black fabric, and it had a textured, mermaid skirt.
The dress was well-suited to the theme, but Swift's simple updo took away from the effect. A more over-the-top hairstyle could have taken the outfit to another level.
Swift embraced semi-sheer detailing at the 2013 Met Gala.
Taylor Swift attends the 2013 Met Gala.
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Swift sported another J. Mendel gown for the 2013 "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" Met Gala.
The bodice of the black, floor-length gown was covered in cutouts of sheer, webbed fabric, and it had a cutout on the bodice.
A jeweled collar and dramatic eye makeup completed the look, which fit the punk theme well.
Swift made her Met Gala debut in a gown that hinted at her sophomore album, "Fearless."
Taylor Swift attends the 2008 Met Gala.
Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff / Getty Images
Swift attended her first Met Gala in 2008 wearing a gold ombré gown from Badgley Mischka.
The dress celebrated the "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" theme with its head-to-toe embellishments and shape that nodded to a mermaid tail.
The look seemed to be an Easter egg for Swift's "Fearless" album, which was released in October 2008.
The album cover had golden tones, on which Swift was photographed with her hair flowing around her as she spun her head — which Swift modernized for "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" in 2021.
Her Met Gala gown had the same color scheme, and her hair was styled similarly. The look set the tone for the release of Swift's second album just months before its release.
Swift's pink dress for the 2014 Met Gala exuded Old Hollywood glamour.
Taylor Swift at the 2014 Met Gala.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
The 2014 Met Gala's theme was "Charles James: Beyond Fashion." The event's white-tie dress code called for formal looks from celebrities, and Swift rose to the occasion in a soft-pink Oscar de la Renta gown.
The dress had a scooped neckline and was embroidered with delicate flowers. The column dress had a low back and a dramatic train flowing from an oversized bow.
The elegant dress was modern but evoked the glamour of Old Hollywood, and unlike in years past, Swift matched the look of the dress with her hair, which was swept to the side in soft waves. It was a step up from her past looks.
Swift nailed the theme with her 2016 Met Gala look when she was co-chair for the gala, and the ensemble became culturally significant for her fans.
Taylor Swift wore a robot-inspired dress to the 2016 Met Gala.
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Swift was a Met Gala co-chair in 2016, so it's no surprise she embraced the "Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology" theme.
Her custom Louis Vuitton dress was metallic, featuring a scaled pattern and daring cutouts along the stomach. Swift paired the dress with heels that wrapped to her knees. Bleached hair and black lipstick completed the futuristic look, making the look edgy overall.
The departure from Swift's typically softer looks made it a standout on the Met Gala carpet and in Swift's fashion history, but it became truly iconic because the 2016 Met Gala proved significant for Swift personally and musically.
Swift was first romantically linked to Tom Hiddleston at the Gala, as a video of her dancing with him in a Louis Vuitton dress went viral. Fans also speculate that Swift met Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for six years, the same night. Swift and Alywn split in February 2023, and she's been dating Travis Kelce since the summer of 2023.
Fans also suspect her interactions with both Hiddleston and Alwyn at the Gala served as inspiration for two songs on her album "Reputation" — "Dress" and "Getaway Car."
The silver-toned look she wore to the Met Gala also mimicked the coloring of her "Reputation" cover, again connecting the album to the event.
Michael Fassbender and Steven Soderbergh shooting "Black Bag."
Focus Features
Steven Soderbergh's movie "Black Bag" underperformed, earning $37 million on a $44 million budget.
Soderbergh, who's known for mid-budget dramas, is frustrated by the film's lackluster reception.
He is hesitant to make epic films again, citing the need for genuine inspiration.
Following the lackluster box office performance of his latest mid-budget spy thriller, "Black Bag," Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh is contemplating his next move.
The director behind acclaimed films like "Traffic," "Erin Brockovich," "Out of Sight," and the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise has made nearly every type of movie imaginable, but he's always felt most comfortable doing a modestly budgeted drama. But the performance of "Black Bag," which brought in $37 million on a $44 million budget, has the filmmaker reconsidering how he fits into today's moviemaking landscape.
"The people we needed to come out didn't come out," Soderbergh told Business Insider of the "Black Bag" box office numbers. "And unfortunately, it's impossible to really know why."
Michael Fassbender in "Black Bag."
Focus Features
"My concern is that the rest of the industry looks at that result and just goes, 'This is why we don't make movies in that budget range for that audience, because they don't show up,'" he continued. "And that's unfortunate, because that's the kind of movie I've made my whole career. That middle ground, which we all don't want to admit is disappearing, seems to be really disappearing."
"I mean, it's the best-reviewed movie I've ever made in my career, and we've got six beautiful people in it, and they all did every piece of publicity that we asked them to do, and this is the result," he said. "So it's frustrating."
Asked if he would ever return to making epic movies like 2008's "Che," his two-film biopic starring Benicio del Toro as the revolutionary Che Guevara, Soderbergh wasn't against it, but he had one caveat.
Benicio del Toro in "Che."
IFC Films
"It's really got to be something that deserves that kind of treatment and doesn't feel like Oscar bait," he said.
Soderbergh said he currently has nothing in the works that he would characterize as an epic and explained why.
"It does require an aspect of the grandiosity gene; you've got to think about yourself a certain way to want to go out and do those things. That is not my default mode," he said. "I have to work myself up to that because I don't have that kind of sense of my place."
Still, he enjoys making epic films when it's the right move. It even led to the creation of one of his most beloved television series.
"If I hadn't made 'Che,' I don't think I would have made 'The Knick,'" which I think is the last epic thing that I've done," Soderbergh said of his acclaimed 2014 Cinemax series starring Clive Owen as a surgeon pushing the boundaries of medicine in 1900s New York.
"'Che' was good for me in that sense. But knowing what goes into that, it has got to be something that I feel really electrified by, and those are just hard to come by," he continued. "Then you've got to cast Timothée Chalamet."
"Black Bag" will be available to stream on Peacock starting May 2.
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