Rihanna fans who spent any amount of time on Twitter over the weekend may have been excited to see their idol’s name on the top trending topics, but unfortunately, it wasn’t because she announced the long-awaited new music they’ve been impatiently anticipating since 2016’s Anti. Instead, they got to participate in social media’s latest viral trend: Searching your birthday with Rihanna’s name and sharing the resulting images of her outfits on that day. While some were genuinely disappointed, many were eager to plug in their birthdays and join the fun.
When i saw #Rihanna trending I thought she announced music but it's just y'all doing damn birthday outfits pic.twitter.com/LXd4uZldW4
— Korri Khamberlain👺 (@fatherrs) February 18, 2019
Ironically, Rihanna’s own birthday is just a few hours away; she’ll be 31 tomorrow, February 20, having accomplished more in that time than the majority of folks ever will. She’s begun a burgeoning career as a movie star with her role in Ocean’s 8, she’s got her own wildly successful and inclusive lingerie and makeup lines, she sneakily became one of the game’s best rappers in 2017, and she even turned down a Super Bowl performance because she has beef with the NFL, making her one of the few artists with the cultural cachet to do so (the NFL may want to watch out; she nearly tanked Snapchat’s stock last year over a tasteless ad). It’s no wonder people want to associate themselves with the mutlihyphenate any way they can.
Of course, the responses range from skeptical (“At first I was dubious of the whole ‘Google Rihanna and your birthday’ thing…”) to darkly humorous (“me ignoring the news of my country continuing to dismantle itself and googling Rihanna outfits for everyone I know’s birthdays”) to outright dramatic, but the common element was the joy in discovering one of Rihanna’s many, many iconic, outlandish, innovative, or effortlessly casual looks. Check out some results below.
https://twitter.com/LILUZlFLlRT/status/1096902678053978112
https://twitter.com/VidTuesday/status/1097531181245976576
me ignoring the news of my country continuing to dismantle itself and googling Rihanna outfits for everyone I know’s birthdays pic.twitter.com/cTkqROAVBV
— 🐀 (@courttteney) February 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/crissymilazzo/status/1097542653674057728
https://twitter.com/aherman2006/status/1097534747104833538
i cannot believe #Rihanna blessed me with these looks on my birthday. wow! pic.twitter.com/mU7uq3oyfC
— 𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐘 🚀. (@kordeisgrande) February 19, 2019
rihanna on a day that was not my birthday however in a very real sense it was my birthday pic.twitter.com/NiTGj9bkZm
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) February 18, 2019
I did the Rihanna birthday outfit thing and yep, sitting on the floor in a red velvet gown, crying at a baby, this all checks out pic.twitter.com/ODb1KbAlta
— Alicia Tatone (@AliciaTatone) February 18, 2019
I have legally changed my birthday to May 4 2015 because Rihanna in the yellow Guo Pei gown at the Met Gala literally gave me life pic.twitter.com/DxXBMjC6VU
— Eugene Lee Yang (@EugeneLeeYang) February 19, 2019
This is my birthday Rihanna outfit and it’s… on brand pic.twitter.com/qkg2dQtWFh
— STEVIE NIX 👻 (@luxerubbish) February 18, 2019
https://twitter.com/ThatsJeanDeaux/status/1097357118565318656
did the rihanna outfit on your birthday challenge… it’s officially over for everyone pic.twitter.com/tXY3mNrnAm
— keith (@K_L_E_) February 17, 2019
I might have the best birthday Rihanna pic.twitter.com/GqJfb7sK6W
— Matt Ravis (@mattravis) February 19, 2019
okay so i looked up the whole rihanna outfits on your birthday thing and honestly this outfit is smth i would happily wear she slays pic.twitter.com/c2GL9kQNsC
— ellie lennie 🧡 (@EllieLennie2491) February 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/joshultan/status/1097900421249671168
https://twitter.com/paigehendy406/status/1097899620741525504