The Worst Dressed At The Time100 Gala 2025

If ever there was a place to dress up in your finest and look stunning, it's for an event with the actual word "gala" in it. Thursday, April 24, 2025, was the date, the Lincoln Center in New York City was the place, and the 2025 Time100 Gala was the occasion. The annual soirée celebrates the iconic magazine's picks for the top 100 people who have made a splash in the world over the past year. Honorees include everyone from actors to politicians, sports figures to activists, entrepreneurs to chefs, and everyone in between.

As expected, the guest list was a plethora of famous faces, and the multiple red carpets and outside entries were awash in a variety of fashions. For the most part, the men were dressed in classic black suits (shout out to Ed Sheeran for his pink one, though), and the women wore sleek gowns all befitting the gala. 

There were, of course, exceptions to the rule — aka the ill-fitting red jumpsuit worn by Kristen Bell that blended into a great many of the backdrops she stood against. There were also wardrobe choices that seemed inspired by prom, glue guns, monsters, Punky Brewster, and things we can only hope we never imagine. If we had a TheList100 for worst-dressed at the Time100, these people would definitely be included.

One of the honorees at the Time100 Gala, tennis star Serena Williams stood up on a big stage to give a speech in front of a huge crowd — dressed like a mummy in mourning. The bandage dress has been a staple on red carpets for ages, but Williams's version was a whole lot more unravelled. While all the important bits were covered, the length of the dress was broken up by gaps between strips of fabric, as if the sewing machine ran out of thread during certain moments of stitching. To be honest, we were holding our breath a little bit, hoping there wasn't another memorable wardrobe malfunction (ahem, her sister's Oscars nip slip).

Not everyone on the red carpet at the Time100 Gala was a well-known face, but that didn't stop them from attracting attention — just not necessarily the good kind. If you've ever seen an episode of "Punky Brewster" from the mid to late '80s, you're probably having flashbacks upon seeing artist Tricia Storie's ensemble. Her dress was of the very poufy variety, tie-dyed and appliqued to the hilt. A pair of matching leggings underneath was accompanied by multi-colored platform sneakers, and a wreath of silk flowers was her crowning finish. Her escort, Bennet Dorrance, chose to mismatch with her and himself in an embroidered cumberbun and bow-tie.  

It's possible that since Napheesa Collier's day-job uniform consists of a Minnesota Lynx basketball jersey and shorts, she took the opportunity to go wild with her dress choice for the Time100 Gala. Along with fellow WNBA player Breanna Stewart, Collier was one of the night's celebrated, honored for starting Unrivaled, a three-on-three women's pro basketball league. She also probably caught a lot of attention for her barely there metallic dress, plunging down to her navel in front, and completely non-existent in the back. While it was a gorgeous dress, and she looked fabulous in it, the gown seemed better suited for the MTV Awards, and not for the Time100 Gala, where the dress code was more sophisticated.

One of the honorees at the Time100 Gala, Miranda July is a best-selling author who has also dabbled in acting and directing. It also appears as if she likes to mess around with fashion, and by mess, we do mean hot mess. You didn't have to wear a gown to the Time100 Gala, but the cut-off ultra-short shorts she chose were in direct opposition to what we think of as occasion-appropriate; even adding hose and sedate black pumps couldn't make up for the excessive cheekiness. In contrast, she was rather buttoned up on the top half, with a turtleneck and high-collared jacket with puffed sleeves that gave off Victorian vibes. 

A power couple? Or a clash of fashion calamities? Mining business mogul Andrew Forrest was an honoree at the Time100 Gala, and he joined arms with Caroline Kennedy, whose relationship with cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may have been another reason for her attendance (he was also honored). Forrest wore a classic black tux, but decided to dress it up with a silk scarf in a busy gold pattern. By himself, the look would have been questionable, but acceptable. However, paired with Kennedy's bold black and white dress, riddled with stars, butterflies, hearts, flowers, birds, clouds, and other myriad silhouettes? We don't know where to look, just that we need to look for our sunglasses.

Not a famous face, but well-known amongst the Time crowd, Sáde Muhammad is the official chief marketing and impact officer for the publication. She's also a former employee of Forbes and NBC Universal, having worked with Bravo as part of her gig. This means she's very familiar with all of the "Real Housewives," and appears to have taken some fashion advice from a few of them. Go sparkly! Stand out! Be memorable! Mission accomplished, though not in the way she may have intended. The acid-green metallic suit was on the verge of blinding, and we wouldn't be surprised if "glow in the dark" was written on the tag inside her pants.

Not a crafty person? Let us explain. Hot glue comes in colors, and when you squeeze it out of a glue gun, you can make designs and shapes. And it looks pretty much exactly like the dress Simone Biles wore to the Time100 Gala. As an honoree at the event, thanks to her many gold medals as a member of the United States gymnastics team, the athlete hit the red carpet in a mini-dress that showed off her toned legs. Unfortunately, we were too distracted by the glue-gun dress, wondering if it would melt, or stick to her seat, or attract lint, causing another one of those awkward moments witnessed by millions. 

Arianna Huffington is a busy woman. She's the person who created The Huffington Post and is the founder of a tech company, and she has written dozens of books. So maybe she couldn't squeeze shopping for a new gown for the Time100 Gala into her schedule. Instead, it appears as if she reached way, way into the back of her closet, and pulled out her old prom dress. And, unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be a timeless fashion piece. Bows or birds or hieroglyphics were printed in black against her hot-pink skirt, matching the black top half with puffy sleeves (and in case you missed it, check out the slits of pink in those sleeves). Sometimes retro isn't cool — it's just old.