Nipples were the star of the Met Gala – the reaction was depressingly predictable

From Solange and Jay-Z’s elevator confrontation to Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe dress controversy, we can always rely on the Met Gala for headline-grabbing moments – and last night’s edition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute fundraising event was no different. 

Because nipples were out and proud on the red carpet, and as you can probably imagine, the internet had opinions about them.

Seeing all the pearl-clutching that was going on on social media, I immediately thought of my own experiences with nipple shaming, most memorably, with my own mother. 

‘You could poke someone’s eye out with that’, she had pointed to my top, grimacing.

I looked down at my chest – at my erect nipples – and sighed.

‘Are we really nipple shaming in 2025?’ I asked her, rolling my eyes.

‘Just cover up, it’s not decent’, she threw a pashmina over me and ushered me into another shop.

We were on holiday in Italy, in a warm Tuscan village, when my mother decided to point out my nipples, unprovoked.

I was surprised, since she’s usually very relaxed about bodies – she’s never minded me showing skin – but it turns out nipples were the line, and I had crossed it.

I’m embarrassed to say, I let her shame me and cover me up – and I’ve felt awful about it ever since.

It seems like we have not come very far since 2012’s Free The Nipple campaign. Led by filmmaker Lina Esco, the campaign suggested it should be acceptable for women to show their nipples, since so many men do, without question.

And this lack of progress became very evident last night, looking at the reactions to some of last night’s 2026 Met Gala outfits. This year’s dress code was ‘Fashion Is Art’ – and many responded by asserting that bodies are art.

Kim Kardashian did this by wearing a metallic corset, with breasts augmented into a cone-like shape, looking like something out of the 1927 film, Metropolis.

The nipples were accented into an exaggerated point, angled slightly upward, in a slight surreal fashion. I mean, I’ve never seen a nipple do that, but I welcome all types.

Say what you want about Kim, you can’t deny she loves to go all out for a dress code – but people have responded negatively to her, with one user on X claiming she ‘always gotta hoe it up’.

Another writes: ‘Can she do something that doesn’t feature her body all the time’ – surprising, since the body is typically where clothes go.

But she wasn’t the only person who revealed nipples. In fact, it was something of a family affair, with Kim’s half-sisters, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, both opting to show off fake nipples.

Kendall went for a nip-slip, as a call to the infamous pap-hungry snaps we see in low-brow celebrity magazines.

And Kylie had an ‘undressed’ moment, with her dress barely hanging off her, as a nude and nippled corset hugged her body.

The backlash was clear: people are still surprised that nipples exist.

They know this about men – no one questions their nipples – so it’s, as ever, frustrating to have to have this discussion again.

At the Grammys red carpet earlier this year, Chappell Roan wore a Mugler dress that hung off fake nipple rings, showing her bare breasts. It was a stunning look, but people were not happy – some were even left wondering if it was legal to wear in public.

But nipples are normal.

And it’s okay to show them.

Society has sexualised women’s breasts, for the pleasure of men, which has turned something as simple as a woman’s nipples, into an x-rated taboo.

But breasts exist to hold milk for children, and nipples are the tool these children use to drink them. They are, if anything, incredible – men can’t feed a human sustenance from their inferior nipples, so it’s exasperating that they always get a pass.

Other than these nipple constructions – and a few others outside of the Kardashian/Jenner family – we saw a real nipple peek from the sheer dress of Doechii, in a welcomed moment of embracing her Black body.

Yet, one X user commented under a photo of her saying ‘Women fashion these days is just different ways to reveal their nakedness…’

Our bodies are ours to choose how to display and conceal. 

They shouldn’t be withheld and censored. 

Since my own mother shamed my body last year, I’ve refused to let that moment shroud me. On especially hot days, I refuse to wear bras. And sometimes when it’s cold, I don’t wear a bra if my top looks better without it.

It’s not just my anxious mother who has made comments about my nipples – a friend has previously shown concern over a photo I’ve posted on social media, where a nipple was ever so slightly visible through a sheer top. 

And just this year, my nipples were almost photoshopped out from my vest – because it had to be used in a professional setting – until the team realised they were being ridiculous, and left them alone.

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My choice to have my nipples show through my clothes is simply me existing. Because nipples are there, sitting on our bodies, serving a purpose for many.

Hiding them feels absurd.

We should be taking a leaf from 2012’s book and freeing the nipple.

Even though my mother thinks it’ll poke someone’s eyes out, it won’t.

Nipples don’t harm anyone.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jessica.aureli@metro.co.uk. 

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