Janelle Monae at arrivals for The 92nd A...

During the red carpet shows, I thought Janelle Monae would easily be at the top of everyone’s Best Dressed lists. But… after her opening musical number, didn’t it feel like people were like “oh we forgot that she killed it on the carpet.” Regarding the musical number… as I said in the recap, it wasn’t great. That’s not Janelle’s fault. It wasn’t the right energy, it was too early in the night to try to get audience engagement with snapping and clapping and singing, and the “dancing characters” bit was especially… odd.

Still, Janelle’s Ralph Lauren gown on the red carpet was gorgeous. It reminded me strongly of another famous Ralph Lauren look – Anne Hathaway’s 2015 Met Gala look in gold. Remember that? Ralph Lauren can design some really great gowns with built-in hoods, who knew. My biggest complaint with Janelle’s look was the skirt was way too stiff-looking.

Janelle Monae arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood...

I just want to say some words about Antonio Banderas, who is lovely. Antonio was there because for the first time in his career, he was Oscar-nominated. It was for Pain and Glory, and honestly, he was worlds better in P&G than Joaquin Phoenix was in Joker. I’m just saying this so more people will seek out Pain and Glory – if anyone should have gotten an Oscar for their performance PLUS their body of work, it should have been Antonio. He wore Dior, his daughter Stella wore Gucci and his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel wore Pronovias.

92nd Academy Awards - Arrivals

Oscars 2020 Arrivals

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and WENN.
Oscars 2020 Arrivals
Janelle Monae at arrivals for The 92nd A...
Oscars 2020 Arrivals
Oscars 2020 Arrivals
92nd Academy Awards - Arrivals
Janelle Monae arrives on the red carpet of The 92nd Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood...