Mindy Kaling Rocks a Tailored Gown and Slim Train at the 2025 Met Gala

• Mindy Kaling arrived at the 2025 Met Gala in a tailored, neutral gown with slim red train

• The actress’s look is an example of “military-inspired tailoring,” Vogue reported, a common thread between this year’s attendees

• Last year, Kaling wore a voluminous nude-colored strapless gown by Gaurav Gupta

When Mindy Kaling isn’t creating must-see TV, she’s serving looks on the red carpet.

The 45-year-old actress and comedian arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday, May 5, for the 2025 Met Gala.

Kaling wowed in a long-sleeved, fitted black dress, featuring a bold white collar and red velvet details on her collar and waist. Down the length of her gown were big gold buttons of varying geometric shapes, with many smaller gold buttons lining her cuffs. Behind her trailed a slim train of white satin and red velvet fabric.

The Mindy Project alum wore her hair in a slicked-back ponytail, and upgraded the ‘do with gold clips to match her dress’s buttons. She opted for a simple smokey eye and a nude lip, and completed the ensemble with gold drop earrings.

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In October 2024, Vogue shared details on the 2025 Met Gala, announcing that Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour would be co-chairs for the event, alongside LeBron James as honorary chair. The gala, which is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on the first Monday in May, is a fundraiser for The Costume Institute and spotlights the museum’s spring 2025 exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the theme for the gala.

Curator in Charge Andrew Bolton said that the exhibit — which is inspired by guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity — explores “the Black dandy as both a concept and an identity signifier.”

The exhibit “presents a cultural and historical examination of Black style from the 18th century to the present through an exploration of the concept of dandyism,” according to a post on the museum’s Instagram.

The Met Gala’s dress code for this year is “Tailored for You,” a nod to the exhibition’s focus on menswear and suiting. This event also has a star-studded host committee that includes Simone Biles and her husband Jonathan Owens, Doechii, Regina King, Spike Lee, Usher and Angel Reese.

Kaling last appeared at the Met Gala in 2024. For that evening’s dress code, “The Garden of Time,” she wore a voluminous, nude-colored strapless gown by Gaurav Gupta.

The look featured sculptural pieces that arced over her head and cascaded down her back in looped patterns and swirls. Her enormous train that required multiple handlers trailed Kaling as she walked the red carpet. Sukra Jewellery provided the actress’s sparkly rings and earrings.

“They’re both Indian designers,” Kaling said of her dress and jewelery creators during Vogue’s carpet livestream. “It makes me really happy to [represent] such talented geniuses who happen to be from my community. It’s amazing.”

The six-time Emmy Award nominee also shared the dress’s name with livestream host La La Anthony: “The Melting Flower of Time.”

“If you look at the cape, you can see that it looks like a flower that was once blossoming and is now melting,” Kaling added. “What I also love is it has a little bling in it. It’s me after all.”

Related: Mindy Kaling Says She Never Felt Like She Was ‘Part of a Comedy Clique’ in Hollywood — and Admits That Made Her ‘Jealous’

Kaling loves to bring the bling to the Met Gala. In 2023, she wore a dazzling silvery-white Jonathan Simkhai dress with a fitted bodice and floor-length accent in the back. On May 2, 2023, she called it “one of the most beautifully constructed gowns I’ve ever worn,” on Instagram.

To accessorize, Kaling opted for Kwiat pear shape and Ashoka cut diamond flower and fringe earrings, a Fred Leighton Edwardian pearl and diamond ring and a Fred Leighton, 5.0 ct old mine cut diamond ring.

In 2022, the mother of three looked lavish in lavender. Her Prabal Gurung gown featured a plunging neckline and thigh-high slit. The look was embellished with floor-length shoulder trains and purple floral accents.

The former Office star accessorized with matching silk pumps and glitzy diamond pieces, including a necklace, bracelets and ring.

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The Sex Lives of College Girls creator first attended the Met Gala in 2013. She arrived alongside her Office costar, collaborator and longtime friend B.J. Novak.

That year, the theme was “PUNK: Chaos to Couture.” In line with the dress code, Kaling wore a deep magenta Lela Rose dress. Novak, 45, kept it classy in a black suit and tie with a white button-up.

During a September 2022 episode of Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast, Kaling reflected on her Met Gala debut, sharing that she felt “fraudulent” being there.

“I didn’t know you were supposed to stay uptown near the Met. You’re supposed to get in a standing van so your dress didn’t wrinkle. I was just in a cab, in my dress, sitting in the backseat of a car, you know, driving for 45 minutes,” she recalled.

Catch all the minute-by-minute fashion updates from the 2025 Met Gala red carpet right here!

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