MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Valerie, a miniature dachshund lost for 18 months — or around half her life — on an Australian island, has been reunited with her owners, her rescuers said Wednesday.

Owner Georgia Gardner said her pet approached without hesitation when they were reunited by Kangala Wildlife Rescue on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia state on Tuesday for the first time since November 2023.

“She ran straight up to me — I just burst into tears,” Gardner said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“She was wagging her tail, making her little happy sounds and wiggling around with joy. I held her and cried and cried,” Gardner added.

The almost 3-year-old Valerie was trapped on April 25 in remarkably good condition after 529 days spent living like a feral animal. Valerie had weighted 4 kilograms (9 pounds) when she was lost and now weighs 6.8 kilograms (15 pounds). There is speculation that she survived on road kill and animal droppings.

Gardner and her partner, Josh Fishlock, had been holidaying on the island and were away from their campsite fishing when their pet escaped from a pen. The couple searched but eventually had to return to the mainland without her.

Volunteers from Kangala Wildlife Rescue, a not-for-profit service, spotted the distinctive addition to the Australian wilderness in March.

She was captured after volunteers spent an estimated 1,000 hours searching while covering 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) of the island.

Having seen video camera images of the dog sniffing a trap last month, Kangala Wildlife Rescue director Jared Karran said he was surprised by how small she was in reality.

“If it was a miracle that she’s survived — seeing her size — it’s just unbelievable that she was able to survive and thrive out there,” Karran said.

Gardner and Fishlock will drive Valerie back to their home in Albury in New South Wales state.

Garner said she had been working with a dog behaviorist to help Valerie transition to home life. Valerie will be kept on a raw food diet “considering her incredible condition when she was found,” Gardner said.

In Albury, Valerie will be reunited with rescue cat Lucy and cattle dog Mason. She will also be introduced to her owners’ new dachshund, Dorothy.

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Henry Adams had reached a fashion crossroads by the early 1970s: As bell bottoms and afros became the trend and the look of film figures like John Shaft and “Super Fly” became style prototypes, the teenager felt unrepresented.

But a previous trip to the Museum of Modern Art, for its “Harlem On My Mind” exhibit, had already begun to lay down his fashion foundation.

“When I saw those photographs of elegant Harlemites promenading up and down Seventh Avenue and Lennox Avenue … the raccoon coats and fox coats, and spangled gowns, and bowler hats — all this satirical splendor … I thought, ‘Oh! There is another way for me to be authentically Black,’” recalled the New York-based cultural and architectural historian, now 69.

The style Adams would embrace had a name: dandyism. And dandyism was at the heart of Monday’s Met Gala, where many of the world’s most famous and influential tastemakers donned their luxury best to kick off the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibit. But Black dandyism isn’t limited to expensive couture — it’s displayed daily.

“It’s everywhere in the Black community, the notion of what a dandy is,” explained Adams, who was photographed for the “Superfine” catalog. “The ingeniousness and ingenuity and creativity of Black people, so far as fashion was concerned, it’s always been with us.”

As the menswear-focused exhibit — the Costume Institute’s first to exclusively display Black designers — opens to the public Saturday, here are tips from dandies on embracing the style in everyday life.

Tip 1: Start with confidence

Dandies say the key to a distinctive look first begins on the inside.

“Fashion’s a sense of personality. Two guys can go to the same store and get the same outfit and look totally different,” said Guy Wood, 62, the stylish co-owner of Harlem Haberdashery. Inspired by family members and dapper Harlem neighbors, he developed a knack for style early. “It’s confidence … you walk in the room, and all the heads turn.”

Michael Andrew, a 42-year-old Atlanta-based style consultant, first delved into dandyism after being inspired by Fonzworth Bentley, most recognized as Sean “Diddy” Combs’ often-photographed assistant and umbrella holder in the early 2000s. Bentley’s colorful outfits and tailored outfits separated himself from the hip-hop era’s prevalent baggy look.

“A lot of guys think that being a dandy is about being over the top,” said Andrew, who was photographed for Rose Callahan’s 2013 book “I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman.” “For me, dandyism is the highest form of taste with self-expression.”

Tip 2: Opt for the statement pieces

The foundation of dandyism rests upon tenets such as bold colors and fine tailoring, but there’s no singular way to achieve the look. Each dandy creates their own unique style, often centered on specific elements. For Wood, who refers to crafting looks as making gumbo, it starts with suits.

“Wearing a suit, you just feel important,” said Wood, who often pairs them with brogue shoes of various bright colors. “We love well-tailored.”

James McFarland, an 80-year-old master tailor, says a dandy’s affinity for tailoring is easy to understand: “It’s very simple: we’re a visual world. When you wear something that’s fine tailored and it’s fitting you well, people look at that.”

Known as “Gentleman Jim,” McFarland was tutored by Orie Walls, the go-to Harlem-based tailor of the 1960s. McFarland says they crafted suits for nearly every famous Black male celebrity of the time, from Duke Ellington to Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali — as well as some of the era’s most infamous characters, like gangsters Frank Lucas and Bumpy Johnson. He says wearing a suit “makes you feel better. You ever heard the term styling and profiling?”

While Adams, the historian, is drawn to bow ties, buck shoes and straw hats, Andrew says the beauty of dandyism is making it your own.

“Texture is the must-have when you start talking about dandyism — textures and patterns. The great point here is that dandies always have their thing. And so, for me, hats are my thing,” Andrew said, adding that small accessories, like stylish wool or cashmere socks and pocket squares, can easily elevate a look. “Now, it’s starting to become glasses. … Every dandy has the opportunity to utilize something.”

Tip 3: Creativity is worth more than cash

Wood says creativity is essential to becoming a dandy — not a high income.

“That’s a cheat code,” said Wood. “It is being creative … most of us don’t have a lot of money. You might go in your mom’s closet and (think), ‘Oh, that scarf is fly.’ You tie it around your neck and lay it over your shoulder. You just can’t be scared.”

Adams says while style and inspiration can go hand-in-hand, individuality should always be paramount.

“People should find their truth and aspire to look like themselves,” he said, noting he shops at a variety of stores, from the high-end Brooks Brothers to off-price and discount stores like Marshalls and K&G Fashion. “Part of the thing that made me rebel against looking like ‘Super Fly’ or ‘Shaft’ is I didn’t want to look like everybody else.”

Jacques Agbobly, a designer whose clothes are featured in the Met exhibit, agrees.

“There are people who would really just think it’s about the suit that you’re wearing and the top hat … but for me, and I think that’s what this exhibition does really fondly, is really putting together a group of amazing clothing that really redefines what dandyism is,” he said. For the Togo-born designer, “taking up space is a sort of open-ended thing in a way,” whether it’s achieved through colors, silhouettes or fabric choices.

Tip 4: Avoid the crisis of casualness

A general consensus among dandies is that society has embraced casualness, shunning the well-dressed looks of the past.

McFarland, the tailor, says his profession isn’t as admired or used in U.S. as it was years ago. He teaches fine tailoring as he has for decades, and is planning to start a podcast to discuss the craft and his adventures styling celebrities of his era.

“When I grew up, I wanted to look like the people in the neighborhood,” he said, explaining his mother couldn’t afford the clothes he wanted, leading him to tailoring. “Everybody, male and female, was dressed up.”

Andrew hopes that same stylish spirit of yesteryear can make a resurgence, believing appearance and pride work together.

“I would challenge or would encourage all of us, especially as Black people, to remember our history, to remember that we used to throw on our Sunday’s best,” he said. “We wanted to show up as the best versions of ourselves.”

The “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibit, which will run through October, is sure to introduce visitors to the most elevated forms of Black dandyism. But for Wood and fellow daily dandies, it’s just business as usual.

“The fact that the Met realizes that is a beautiful thing,” he said with a sly smile. “But we’ve been doing this forever and we really not paying attention to it. We just do it because we love it.”

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Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

NEW YORK (AP) — Pinstripes. All Ways. Hats galore. Pantsuits. Gown suits. Zoot suits. Canes. A single cigar (looking at you Madonna) — and expert displays of tailoring. The Met Gala crowd, for the most part, did the Black dandy menswear theme proud at fashion’s biggest party of the year.

“Those that researched the moment and pulled inspiration from history made it modern and their own. I loved it,” said Holly Alford, assistant dean and an associate professor in the fashion and merchandising program at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.

Among her favorites: Colman Domingo’s homage to dandy icon André Leon Talley. It was one of many that honored the towering fashion figure, a rare Black fashion editor in a largely white industry. And among others in odes to Talley, who died in 2022, were Anne Hathaway in a Carolina Herrera dress she picked specifically for him.

“We wanted André Leon Talley to look down from heaven and scream ‘GLAMOUR,’” Hathaway said on the Vogue livestream Monday night.

Inventive glamour energy of the night

A glamourous night it was, and an inventive one at that amid a broad White House siege on DEI programs and protections that serve immigrants, LGBTQ+ people and myriad others. What does that have to do with fashion and the theme this year? Everything, in terms of Black power, ownership, heritage and, most importantly, freedom.

What, exactly, was the suggested dress code? It was “Tailored for You,” inspired by Black dandyism through time, the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s spring show at its Costume Institute.

On the blue carpet, a bit soggy from drenching rain, guests played with the fundamentals of fashion to make their looks their own with the help of designers and stylists. And many honored their heritages in special touches like the cowrie shells on the cuffs of Lewis Hamilton’s Wales Bonner jacket.

The shells pay homage to Black diasporic culture, to spirituality, to memory, said Rikki Byrd, assistant professor of Visual Culture Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and founder of the Black Fashion Archive.

Tessa Thompson honored Talley with a fan adorned with his image.

“It’s representative of a church fan and Andre Leon Talley often talked about his first introduction to fashion was through his church,” Byrd said.

Teyana Taylor was a standout for Shantrelle P. Lewis, author of “Dandy Lion: The Black Dandy and Street Style.” With her cane, in her red velvet cape, “she understood the assignment,” Lewis said. Taylor’s cape was emblazoned with her nickname in honor of her home turf: “Harlem Rose.” And she, like Swizz Beatz, donned a durag.

Some underwhelmed by how guests did

Lewis, who has been seminal in understanding dandyism, said the attire on the carpet was generally underwhelming.

“The lack of color, the lack of African print, even the absence of African designers. I said, ‘Where is the Black dandyism,’” she said. “No sartorial risks were taken.”

Big risks? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Brandon Tan, fashion director for Cosmopolitan, was satisfied.

“A classic silhouette can be completely reimagined by something as simple as the color and fabrication of the textile, as seen on Henry Golding,” he said. “Inversely, a very classic grey wool can be totally remixed by the cut and silhouette like Walton Goggins’ kilt look by Thom Browne.”

Who missed the boat altogether?

A few simply showed up in comparatively routine black tuxedoes (hello James Corden) and questionable spins on the theme (Sorry, Halle Berry, but that was a lot of skin in the crotch area).

Coattails of varying lengths were a huge trend amid the sea of hats and head pieces anticipated ahead of the gala that brought together A-listers from the worlds of sports, entertainment, music, art, literature, politics and more to raise money for the Costume Institute.

Black and white looks carried the night, with enough pops of color to keep it interesting.

Colman Domingo and his many fans

Kevin Huynh, InStyle’s fashion director, also praised Domingo, who wore a huge Talley-esque collared blue cape first, then ditched the cape to reveal a pearled window pain jacket he wore with dot accessories.

“As the undisputed king of the red carpet, his regal look was beyond appropriate for the night’s theme,” Huynh said. “He fully embodied the spirit of dandyism in not one but two statement-making looks from Valentino, and he aced it in terms of being unapologetically bold and flawlessly fanciful.”

That “fearlessness and individuality,” he said, is what the night was all about.

“After a marathon awards season run, his Met Gala red carpet reveal was well worth the wait. From the moment he stepped out of The Carlyle draped in a jewel-toned Valentino cape, it was clear that more was coming,” said Claire Stern Milch, Elle’s digital director.

“And when he finally arrived on the steps, his custom three-piece zoot suit, also designed by Alessandro Michele, was a playful and sophisticated nod to the theme,” she added.

Milch called Domingo’s oversized polka dot flower on one lapel undoubtedly the highlight. The look, she said, was the “perfect marriage of classic tailoring and avant-garde flair.”

Nikki Ogunnaike, editor in chief of Marie Claire, noted that suiting of all kinds wasn’t a huge surprise, considering the style guidance from Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who puts the gala together each year.

“My favorites included Ayo Edebiri in Ferragamo, Tracee Ellis Ross in Marc Jacobs, Zendaya and Lisa in Louis Vuitton, Coleman Domingo in Valentino and Mindy Kaling in Harbison, all of whom interpreted dandyism and suiting in their own unique way,” she said.

Athletes turned out at 2025 Met Gala

Athletes, meanwhile, also took the spotlight. Tailoring for them is a special craft that Tom Marchitelli, custom menswear designer and stylist, takes into consideration with all the suits he creates for NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball players.

“These guys have these superhero builds, as I like to say, and they can’t walk into any store on Fifth Ave, in Rodeo, anywhere and just pick out a suit off the rack to fit them,” he said.

Marchitelli said he appreciated the clean form-fitting looks on Philadelphia Eagles players Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.

“To have this many athletes showcased, I think that says a lot about how important sport is to culture, pop culture in America, how influential the athletes are,” he said.

Black designers represented

The night’s vibe was inspired by the exhibit called “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” It’s the first Costume Institute show to focus exclusively on Black designers, and the first in more than 20 years devoted to menswear.

Big-time Black designers and smaller brands of creatives of color were represented on the carpet. They included Sergio Hudson, LaQuan Smith and Ozwald Boateng, a former wunderkind of Savile Row.

Others who were not so much

So who are some others who blew it, or didn’t even try to spin the theme?

Blackpink’s Lisa (Manobal) might have walked the line in her look by Vuitton, a gala sponsor. She went pantless with little faces on black undies to go with her matching jacket and LV logo sheer stockings.

Some on social media thought the faces were Rosa Parks. They weren’t, a representative told The Cut, explaining they were “portraits of figures who have been a part of the artist’s life.”

OK. So it goes. Undie portraits might not be a good idea in general.

As for Corden, The Cut posted a video of him in his mere mortal look and viewers threw some barbs, including one who called him “James Boredon” giving “a total snooze fest per usual.”

Ouch, James.

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For more coverage of the 2025 Met Gala, visit https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala.