What Exactly Is the Pillow Challenge?

If the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed anything about humans, it is, first, that we can be extremely resilient in the face of adversity. A close second is just how creative we can get when stuck in the house with nothing to do. For example: the Pillow Challenge. One of many viral trends to surface across social media in the weeks since much of the world was forced inside, this challenge involves taking a common home decor item—pillows—and using a belt to wear them like a dress. Strike a fierce pose, snap a picture, post it to Instagram, and voilà! Challenge complete.

The phenomenon most likely peaked on Wednesday, when Anne Hathaway re-created her look from her 2001 film The Princess Diaries using white and blue bed pillows, and sent the internet into a small frenzy. In the photo, she wears the requisite makeshift dress with combat boots, sunglasses, and a pair of headphones, posing in front of a large piece of artwork featuring a blue butterfly.

Other famous women to participate include Halle Berry, who fastened a black bed pillow to her body with a black studded belt, donned a matching black hat, and posed like a runway model outside in her garden; and Tracee Ellis Ross, who used a textured beige pillow and posed atop a wooden desk in front of a navy blue wall. Flanked by a leafy green plant and a vase of pink peonies, the black-ish star does a good job channeling a magazine editorial shoot.

On the April 22 episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna, host Jenna Bush Hager showed off her less successful version. "I tried," Hager told Hoda Kotb as they cohosted the show over video chat. She used two large white pillows for her dress, one which appears to belong to her adorable young son, 8-month-old Hal, whom she's holding in the picture.

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Of course, before celebrities began hopping on board the trend, countless other Instagram users flooded the app with their attempts. Off-White, the fashion brand founded by Virgil Abloh, rounded up some particularly good ones (above), where people used an Off-White pillow case or the brand's signature long yellow belt.