For Diana Ross’s Met Gala look, the drama is in the details.
The singer commanded attention at the big event when she appeared in a crystal-embellished white gown and a feather-edged cape so long and broad it appeared to take up the entire width of the red carpet and took eight suited handlers to carry and present.
Topping it all off was her signature voluminous tumble of curls beneath a broad, feathery hat.
The former Supremes member explained that her cape includes a special detail.
“It has the names of all my children and my eight grandchildren,” she explained. “So everybody’s name is embroidered, embroidered in that. And the hat — you know, like, I have to be careful with the hat because my head was pretty big.”
Diana Ross revealed that she wasn’t planning to attend but that her son, 36-year-old Evan Ross, who appeared alongside her, persuaded her to take a break and attend despite being in the middle of a tour.
“She’s the best thing of all time,” he said. “She’s the best thing. She is the Met Ball. She — you are the Met Ball, you are the moment.”
In addition to Evan Ross, Diana Ross is the mother of Rhonda Ross Kendrick, actor Tracee Ellis Ross, Chudney Ross and Ross Naess.
“I love that she has her children’s names embroidered on her train, Diana Ross is the queen of main character energy,” Kpoene Kofi-Bruce, a tailor and expert on dandyism and the historical era, tells TODAY.com.
“I also love how beautiful she looks in the simple sequined gown underneath.”
“Diana Ross’s look is so fabulous!” Kimberly Jenkins, the director and principal researcher of The Fashion and Race Database, tells TODAY.com about the look. “Aside from being a fashion icon, (Diana) Ross is also known for being in the film ‘Mahogany’ opposite Billy Dee Williams, which visually articulated the beauty of the black model in fashionable clothes.”
“The color white is that when you were looking super fine and even in hip-hop tradition, super fresh, keeping everything white and clean was critical,” Jenkins added. “Even with the 1940s tennis star Althea Gibson, she went to great lengths to keep her tennis whites white. The ability to keep your whites white takes a great deal of labor, mindfulness, and stealth when carrying yourself.”
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