It's Official: The Dipped Manicure Is the 2026 Met Gala's Chicest Nail Trend
It's surprisingly wearable.
We discussed the best dressed, and we gawked over the museum-worthy glam. Now? It's time to talk about the stunning Met Gala manicures. Stars did not play it safe when it came to last night's beauty looks (Lisa! Rihanna! Anok!), but still, nail designs took the cake when it came to serving drama. I screenshotted plenty of manicures to save for my next salon appointment, but one overarching trend truly left me speechless: dipped nails. Below, see all the stunning details and how I'll be sporting the trend this summer. Trust me—it's more wearable than you think.
The trend kicked off with Ashley Graham, who arrived on the carpet with chrome nails and spray-painted silver fingertips. It's as if she dipped her nails into a pot of silver paint—quite the subtle nod to the Fashion Is Art dress code. According to Vogue, her painterly tips specifically pay homage to sculptural artists who devote their lives and hands to their craft. Aesthetically speaking, I can't help but notice how Graham's nails provide a stunning juxtaposition to her minimalist nude Di Petsa dress and fresh, dewy makeup, courtesy of celebrity makeup artist Kabuki.
Next, we have Tessa Thompson, who cosigned the dunked-nail look in a deep Klein blue. "I was really inspired by this idea of what it would look like if you just dipped your hand in some paint," Thompson told Entertainment Tonight at the Mark Hotel. Even the nails themselves were made to resemble paint dripping off the tips and had long trickles of pigment hanging off the nail plate.
Thompson's look is arguably the most literal take on dipped nails, and on the more metaphorical side of the spectrum, we have Naomi Osaka, who arrived on the red carpet with crimson tips that appear fused to her sheer gloves. "The dress was deep red with these beautiful curves, and we wanted the nails to feel like a continuation of that, so we built the design onto gloves to extend her silhouette down to the fingertips," celebrity nail artist Juan Alvear said of Osaka's look. The tennis star has long been known for her intricate, artistic manicures, so I'm delighted to see her take on the dipped-nail trend.
Okay, I know what you're thinking: Sure, dipped nails are cool and all, but they're not actually that wearable. It's not like you can dip your fingertips in a can of paint and, say, head straight to the office or dinner with friends. The Met Gala does beget artistic, avant-garde looks (even without the Costume Art theme), but we at home can hop on the trend by simply being more nonchalant with our bold manicures. Paint your tips a striking silver, crimson, or Klein blue, and don't worry too much about any polish bleeding into the surrounding nail beds. No need to strive for perfection. Just consider them, you know, "dipped."
Shop the 2026 Met Gala Dipped-Nail Trend
