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Amina Salahou
December 19, 2025

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Editor in Chief: Cynthia Medina

By Kaley Chambers

Beyoncé Takes the Met!

This marks Beyoncé’s first Met Gala appearance in over a decade. She’ll be co-chairing alongside Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman, and Anna Wintour this May. This year’s theme is “Costume Art,” and its aim is to focus on “depictions of the dressed body across the Met’s vast collection, pairing garments with artworks to reveal the inherent relationship between clothing and the body.” The paired exhibit will be the first exhibition in the Costume Institute’s new permanent galleries at the Met.

All the co-chairs are fabulous, but Beyoncé chairing a Met Gala theme called “Costume Art” feels uncannily perfect. After seeing her Renaissance and Cowboy Carter tour fashions these past couple of years, who else is better at visual and performance costuming?

As mentioned, Beyoncé herself hasn’t been to the Met gala since 2016, so let’s take a look at some of our favorite looks from her over the years at the star-studded event:

2015: Givenchy Haute Couture
Theme: China: Through the Looking Glass

Now that we’ve gone over who’s hosting, the theme, and Beyoncé’s best looks, of course we have to mention the elephant in the room: her music. Fans speculate that 2026 will be the year she drops the final act in her trilogy. Lucky for us, her next album’s announcement is highly anticipated to be combined with her Met Gala look in some way (and it’s rumored to be rock-centered). I, for one, am so excited to see Beyoncé–and how she will mix method dressing from Act 3 into her Met appearance!

All the co-chairs are fabulous, but Beyoncé chairing a Met Gala theme called “Costume Art” feels tailor-made for her–if anyone understands how clothing becomes a spectacle, it’s Beyoncé.

Let’s Hear It for the Color… of the Year☁️

Every year, Pantone, the color experts, select a color of the year (COTY) which they feel sets the cultural context of that year, factoring in foreseen fashion, tech, and social trends.

A seemingly unassuming color assigned to the upcoming year might seem like a trivial matter, but has been quite accurate when it comes to predicting the vibe of that year. It’s grown into a tradition that people eagerly look forward to, with color enthusiasts often taking guesses at the upcoming COTY. Olive Green was a strong predicted choice for 2026.

So what color ended up usurping Olive Green? In the end, it was Cloud Dancer, a serene shade of white. But while Pantone’s featured photo of the 2026 COTY (seen below) captures a calm environment, there has been some discourse on it being…well, basically white.

Following a heavy cultural and political year in 2025, Pantone’s color choice (or rather, choice of the absence of color) reveals a lot. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are being defunded and rolled back at alarming rates, and with the rise of social media platforming far-right extremists, white supremacy and nationalism is more blatant than ever. However, some argue the choice of white is a representation of purity, repair, and innocence, an optimistic look for next year.

This is the first time in the 26 years of Pantone’s Color of the Year that a shade of white has been selected. What do you think it might say (or not say) about our cultural climate?

THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG BY THE FIRE WITH FLAIR…🎀

With the holidays trickling in, it’s time to focus on the smaller things: no, not Charles Dickens. Stockings–no matter the size–are in this year, and we’re filling ours with little luxuries that feel way bigger.

First up: the ultra-feminine VS Pink x LoveShackFancy Thong Set is giving soft, flirty, and honestly, too pretty to hide. For the outward accessories, add a sparkly BaubleBar Initial Necklace for that personalized touch everyone loves. 

My beauty girls: the Emi Jay Brush is the chicest hair essential (consider it an instant stick-straight-hair-day). And for wellness vibes, tuck in Lemme Purr Gummies—they’re cute, buzzy, and perfect for starting the new year balanced. 

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By Victoria Gonzalez

Nostalgia for Wedge Sneakers👟

I remember the one and only pair of wedge sneakers I ever had. They were gold and sparkly and they resembled those that my Barbie doll wore. That alone made me want to wear them every day. At the time they felt like the best invention man could ever come up with. Heel and sneakers in one. At the ripe age of six they made me feel like a woman: cool, two inches taller and stylish.

Isabel Marant  brought them back and now brands like Steve Madden and DollsKill have come out with more affordable options. 

For genuine early 2000s vintage pairs, Ebay is your best friend. 

KEEP MOVING FORWARD: REBELLION THROUGH WOMENSWEAR

Trend forecasting is both an art and a science, but they aren’t oracles, trust. 

I wish that I was an Etsy witch with incredible foresight, but instead, it's simply intersections of fashion and history repeating itself.

Fashion is political.

Sound familiar?

Fashion is cyclical. 

Fashion houses took heavy inspiration from 1980s fashion during the September 2025 fashion week, particularly with Saint Laurent’s rive gauche references. Gaudy earrings, puffed sleeves and pantsuits adorned the runway, with each piece’s leviathanic silhouette emitting an omnipotent presence. 

So to predict fashion trends… you look at the political parallels.

Fashion is a catalyst and a vehicle of political expression.

“Le Smoking” was famously introduced by Yves Saint Laurent in 1966, seamlessly blending masculine and feminine elements through the women’s tuxedo. As a pioneer within his industry, this heterogenous style of both masculine and feminine quickly became his signature with each garment rebelling against fashion’s social and cultural norms. While initially met with resistance, it represented something much larger: it was a symbol of women’s autonomy and liberation through practicality and elegance. As Pierre Berge stated, “Chanel gave women freedom. Yves Saint Laurent empowered them.”

And thus, in a world where society is trying to tell us to become a tradwife and relinquish our already limited autonomy, you can still find impactful ways to rebel. So whether its powersuits, brooches, neon colors, punk fashion, or embracing asymmetrical fashion, it's never insignificant– because fashion is history.

In America, we’re taught to always keep looking forward, seeing time as something solely linear. But in many cultures, time is cyclical, much like fashion, and history–we always repeat ourselves. So while everything seems like it might be doomed, it's not. We’ve been here before and we’ll come back again.

First Snow, Full Chaos ❄️

It finally happened–twice! Snow days, baby. They just about saved my life this week: no classes and a day of uninterrupted studying. It was perfect. However, by far my favorite tradition here at Virginia Tech is our annual first-snow civilians vs. cadets snowball fight. 

Every year, when the snow first sticks to the ground, the Corps of Cadets announces a snowball fight on the Drillfield. Regardless of whether class is cancelled or not, we all drop everything to head to the center of campus in full snow gear, ready to fight. 

It’s brutal, it’s cold, and it’s so fun. The fight usually lasts around an hour and about a thousand students show up. People bring slingshots, sleds as shields, lacrosse sticks, homemade catapults, literally anything you can think of. Our mascot shows up and it’s just pure chaos. 

The civilian vs. cadet snowball fight feels like quintessential college to me, and it is one of those little quirks that makes this place home. 

Poems I Know by Heart❤️

Welcome back to The Interlude–otherwise known as Quiet Parts, the Column–with art and poetry pairings for the busy patron. 

In lieu of last week’s column, I have been returning to all the little poems I know by heart. There is one by Dorothea Grossman that has stayed with me for years: 

I have to tell you, 

there are times when 

the sun strikes me

like a gong, 

and I remember everything,

even your ears.

See you next week!