Keke Palmer Gets Ready for the Met Gala

Because you need snacks.

Yeah, I bet you didn t know I had that.

All you need is a little hot water, drop that in, it s done.

Peanuts, get you a little fat in there,

that s gonna keep you sustained.

Trust me, I know.

This right here is everything.

[retro bluesy music]

What s up, Vogue?

You know it s your girl Keke!

And I m so excited for you guys

to get ready with me for the Met Gala.

Let s get into it.

[retro bluesy music]

My ritual for red carpet

or any of these things are kind of usually the same.

I ve become so close to my glam squad.

We d be talking amass.

We d be laughing about the latest news, our interests,

she d be putting me on new music,

and we just kind of cut up and have a good time.

I think for me, it s, I always want it to feel like family,

you know what I m saying?

We re gonna get the job done,

but we re gonna have fun while we do it,

and so that s really my ritual.

[retro bluesy music]

My look tonight was inspired by Dorothy Dandridge

on what she did in media,

how she reframed the idea of what it meant

to be a Black woman was something

I think we should highlight.

When I first spoke to Vera,

we were kind of talking about Black dandyism.

She was like,

Now I really wanna know what you feel

and what you think cause you re Black. [laughing]

And I was like, Yes, girl. [interviewer laughing]

And so we started talking, and I was like,

For me,

it really is about how fashion was used as a tool

to bring my culture in spaces it wasn t always allowed.

And so she started doing her research.

She brought me all these different moments

of Dorothy Dandridge.

And even though my girl Vera looks young, she s actually 76.

And so she was like,

I watched Dorothy Dandridge in realtime.

And I m like, Girl, yes, give me the tea!

And so we were like having so much fun

looking through these old pictures.

And we stumbled on something that we felt also inhabited,

the tailored aspect,

so we would get the opportunity

to blend both masculine and feminine,

which you know you re girl,

I ve definitely got a masculine charm

with a feminine tribute. [laughing]

I m strong, I feel like I m a force when I walk into a room,

but I m still very soft and demure.

I make a joke

and I want you to laugh because I want you to feel at ease.

And so I feel like that this look that Vera created

and her amazing team created, it encompasses that;

the strength, the power, the business boss diva,

but also that demure princess girl that is just cuddled up

in the bed at the end of the day watching

her favorite rom-com.

Shout-out to Bride Wars.

That s when I knew that I was going to be with Vera.

[bright gentle music]

My dad is one of nine boys,

and all of them give Black dandy in some way,

even if it s bootleg in some degrees.

They re gonna give you that very sharp pulled-up elegance.

And I think the main thing that I learned from them

and what makes what I think about

when I think about dandyism

and Black dandyism is being in spaces

that you haven t always been allowed,

and using fashion as a tool to get there.

I think that s been my greatest takeaway,

especially when researching,

and thinking about what I wanna bring to it,

and the people in my medium that have done that very well,

like Dorothy Dandridge.

And really being inspired

from that perspective was really exciting.

[bright gentle music]

So for the look today, I feel like,

because her dress is so,

it s really just all the jewels is very much the moment.

And the hair, it s a lot of braids, and she has a headpiece,

so it s like I didn t want the makeup

to be distracting from everything else.

And so we just really went for a fresh face,

a lot of blush, a lot of lash, very pinky,

and just keeping it still beat,

but more natural so that you don t lose-

The other details. Yeah,

looking at everything else, so-

Kenya was like,

So Keke, obviously, Ginger we re doing that,

we love that, that s you.

She was like,

But the brows, we have to lift the brows,

they have to match, [Kenya laughing]

it s gonna really elevate the look.

And honestly, at this point, I trust Kenya with my life.

So I was like, Go ahead. [group laughing]

She started cooking it up in the back.

[bright upbeat music]

We wanted to incorporate with these nails

a little bit of the pearls

because that we have that going on with the dress.

And it kind of also has little elements

of an ode to Audrey Hepburn

because she also is so sharp, classy, and amazing.

And when you see that, again,

we talk about Black dandyism,

the mixture of representation in that regard

and on me in a different image.

[bright upbeat music]

I m sure you guys know the style back in the day

that we would always do

with the braids in the front, hair in the back,

so we really wanted to channel that.

And then also just tapping into our culture,

stuff that we used to do as, when we were younger,

and then putting it a modern twist on it.

Of course with our custom color

and the straight style in the back that you ll see soon.

Culturally, braids, they have so much history for us.

Whether it was our ancestors putting rice in em,

and making sure we could get food, or it fits the maps.

People was putting maps in their braids,

and so it has so much rich history that I have pride in.

And I felt like that, with this look, and giving that class,

but also saying, You see me,

it just gives me [laughing] everything I need.

And I really just wanted to represent in that way.

[bright chiming music]

The main thing I feel is graceful.

I feel as if I m gliding across the room,

and it feels very effortless.

Even though there s a lot going on with the dress, again,

the way that Vera

and her team have constructed this dress, I feel calm.

I m, I feel like, Hey, I make it look easy.

[bright chiming music] [Keke laughing]

This is public.

She is the best. Oh my gosh!

She is absolutely,- [Keke speech indistinct]

you look the best.

And I believe truly that Keke has a whole nother concept.

And she really wanted to express how proud

she was of being here

and how inspired she was by someone that I adored,

Dorothy Dandridge,

one of the most beautiful actresses that ever lived.

And that s sort of where our starting point was,

and from there on we moved on.

So there is hints of masculinity

and tearing in the collar

and also in the tuxedo pants.

But I still wanted to maintain a very polished,

sophisticated, seductive look for her.

Okay, Vogue, I m in my final look for the Met Gala!

I m so excited,

I m just so glad I got to do this with Vera.

Glam is doing their thing.

They still don t even know how to stop,

but we look good, we look great.

And we re about to walk out the door,

see you there. [blowing kisses]

[retro bluesy music]