Oscar-nominated actress Andra Day has arrived at the 93rd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles in a head-turning custom gold gown by Vera Wang. The United States vs. Billie Holiday star looked like she was plucked directly from Marc Jacobs’ Met Gala girl gang (Hello, Kate Moss and Emily Ratajkowski in golden chainmail) in Wang’s liquid gold metal mesh cut away gown.
“There’s cut-outs, leg, peekaboos, it’s a scandal,” Day’s stylist, Wouri Vice, told Vogue. The stylist also cited Cher’s boldest Bob Mackie moments as Day’s inspiration.
To complement that classic Vera Wang draping, asymmetric straps and a high slit skirt that plunges into a dramatic side train were added – as was more than $2 million in diamonds.
Day wore Tiffany & Co. earrings featuring two square emerald-cut Fancy Vivid yellow diamonds totaling over 12 carats. She added a Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger Cooper bracelet in platinum and 18k yellow gold with over 465 Tiffany diamonds, along with a selection of Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger and Tiffany T rings.
The United States Vvs. Billie Holiday (in cinemas globally where it is safe to attend) follows the 1940s federal government’s sustained campaign to stop the musician from performing Abel Meeropol’s anguished ballad “Strange Fruit” – a graphic evocation of a lynching, and an anthem for the civil rights movement.
In 2017, Grammy-nominated Day recorded her own version of “Strange Fruit” in partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative, a not-for-profit organization founded by American lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson.
Tonight, Day is up for the Best Actress award.
More to come.
