The EGOT winner chatted with PEOPLE on the red carpet about her ensemble, which featured 350,000 sequins

Whoopi Goldberg at the 2025 Met Gala on May 5, 2025.Credit : 

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Whoopi Goldberg is strategic about her accessories.

The EGOT winner stepped out for the the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday, May 5 in a tailored dress by Thom Browne. The look honored the Costume Exhibit’s theme of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”

Goldberg, 69, also sported a unique accessory — gold finger caps by L’Enchanteur, which she chose for a relatable reason.

“There’s a pair of twins and fabulous women who made these,” the actress told PEOPLE, referring to designers Dynasty and Soull Ogun. “I don’t have [a] manicure. And they said, ‘We got you!’ “

Handcrafted in N.Y.C., the Brooklyn design duo created Goldberg’s finger caps as well as her gold sunglasses, a signature accessory for the star. Her L’Enchanteur accessories also included a gold link chain and keyhole brooch with black opal and blue and white diamonds, as well as rings of green tourmaline, diamonds, tanzanite, garnet and purple sapphire, per a press release.

Whoopi Goldberg at the 2025 Met Gala in New York City.Jamie McCarthy/Getty

The rest of Goldberg’s ensemble was equally memorable. On top of her custom black duchess satin raglan-sleeve dress, she wore an embroidered, stacked matte white sequin overcoat with lacing detail down the center back, a top hat in wool bouclé from the Thom Browne fall 2015 archive and longwing boots in black and white patent leather.

The look was customized with a whopping 350,000 matte white sequins and took over 7,700 hours to make.

Whoopi Goldberg at the 2025 Met Gala in New York City.ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

Goldberg’s 2025 Met Gala outfit fit in with the exhibit’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme. It takes inspiration from guest curator Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book, Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity, which explores “the Black dandy as both a concept and an identity signifier.”

Days before the Met, Goldberg joined her View co-host, Joy Behar in her Off-Broadway play, My First Ex-Husband, for a special performance on Wednesday, April 30.

Goldberg starred in the show alongside Behar, 82, Frasier alum Marsha Mason, Grease actress Marilu Henner and former Saturday Night Live cast member Julia Sweeney. My First Ex-Husband is currently playing at MMAC Theatre.

My First Ex-Husband “explores the messy, hilarious truths of love, sex, and relationships,” per an official synopsis. “Whether you’re happily coupled, cautiously committed, or considering changing the locks, relationships are complicated—and universally relatable. These stories are your stories, only funnier,” the description continues.

The play cycles through a rotating cast of stage and screen stars. The show opened with four time Tony Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh, Orange Is the New Black breakout Adrienne C. Moore and Behar’s longtime best friend, Susie Essman.