Outfit of the Week: Teyana Taylor is wrapped and belted

There’s always a lot going on in New York but Monday is the Met Gala so there’s lot more going on in New York right now than usual. A lot of people are already in town ahead of the event. So if the organisers of other events scheduled theirs to capitalise on that, it’s a smart move. 

Last night was the 4th annual King’s Trust Global Gala and I’m here to talk about Teyana Taylor and her excellent outfit. The print trench is sublime on her, how it dramatically wraps around the shoulders and goes up the neck, but she makes it that much more interesting with the Schiaparelli belt, elevating an already great piece to the next level. And then the boots, matching but also clashing, to finish it all off. 

This look is too good…and it’s an appetiser. Because, of course, Teyana will definitely be at the Met Gala on Monday night. Not only did she take part in the portfolio that was produced in Vogue and GQ to celebrate Black style…

…but also, she, La La Anthony, and Ego Nwodim will be hosting the livestream. 

I was surprised when I saw her name on the list considering Teyana has become a red carpet star, someone we now expect to gag us when she arrives. And also, if I’m honest, once you reach a certain status in the business, you stop holding the mic because the mic is being held in front of you. And for a lot of us Teyana has arguably been at that status. 

It could be that she and her team, ahead of the release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, in which she stars alongside Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, and also Regina Hall whose acting career is more established, wanted to use this opportunity, given how much heat the Met Gala attracts, to further familiarise Teyana with a wider audience. 

Or it could simply be that she’s expanding her skillset and adding hosting to acting, singing, and modelling, all of which she does already, and exceptionally well. Keke Palmer, for example, hosted the livestream at the Met Gala a few years ago and she remains the best to ever do it. I’m not giving Vogue and the Met Gala too much credit for how Keke’s career has progressed since then because she made the most of it on her own and they were lucky to have her but my point is that this livestream may give us a side of Teyana that she’s not been able to show on a different scale. 

PS. Aaron Pierre just showed up on her Instagram again. We know they went official a couple of months ago. We know she’s getting her back blown out on the regular. He’s never been to the Met Gala and it looks like he’s about to make his debut and, possibly their red carpet debut as a couple. 

PPS. My latest newsletter at The Squawk, posted on Tuesday, was about theme of the Met Gala this year in support of the Costume Institute’s exhibit, Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, curated by Professor Monica L Miller, whose book Slaves To Fashion: Black Dandyism And The Styling Of Black Diasporic Identity inspired the collection. I’ve spent the last couple of months reading Prof Miller’s work in preparation for covering Monday’s event and my essay is about some of those learnings – click here to read if you’re interested in the homework.