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For Janelle Monáe’s first trip to the Academy Awards, she didn’t hold back. Arriving in an ornate Elie Saab Haute Couture fairy-tale gown and layers of diamonds, Monáe provided the evening with its most dramatic red-carpet moment. Other celebrities tend to play it safe on Oscar night, but for Monáe and her stylist, Maeve Reilly, the perfect look was all about making a statement. “This is her first Oscars, and she’s there for two films, so it felt like ‘go big or go home,’” said Reilly moments after Monáe appeared at the ceremony. “We had no reason to be understated tonight.”
With Monáe on hand to present and represent two of the year’s best picture nominees, Hidden Figures and Moonlight, the pair sought an ensemble as memorable as the films—and discovered it before awards season even began. “We basically found this dress back in December,” Reilly said. “We had some pressure to decide if we were going to do it because it was a very sought-after dress. I don’t know if it was the pressure to make a decision or what, but I told her we are not going to find better than this dress! I felt so confident that this was her Oscar dress. This was before we had done anything, but I knew it would be the grand finale.”
After Reilly and Monáe chose a Jimmy Choo clutch and Brian Atwood shoes, the final touch came down to jewelry. Reilly sought to incorporate the dramatic bejeweled neckpiece seen on the Elie Saab runway, along with Forevermark diamond pieces and regal Jennifer Behr headband covered in colored stones. “We love a lot of jewelry, but we knew that it had to be relatively subtle,” says Reilly. “The diamonds were canary, white, and gold, and they pulled the yellow out of the dress. We kept it relatively simple with the cluster around the ear and the big diamond rings, because the dress itself is like a piece of jewelry.”
Monáe’s couture glamour didn’t go unnoticed: The moment she stepped onto the red carpet, her unique dress–and exuberant attitude–started trending on Twitter. The whimsy of the sequined birds dotted across the bodice and her brand-new pixie cut may have caught the attention of onlookers, but for Reilly the best compliment was how wonderful Monáe felt. “It was a magical moment today putting her in that dress,” Reilly said. “She truly felt like a queen.”
