Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae1/6In her room at The Mark Hotel, the singer and actress was surrounded by her glam squad (from right: hairstylist Nikki Nelms, makeup artist Jessica Smalls, and nail artist Angie Aguirre).
Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae2/6Monáe’s sleek 1930s hair look called dancer and singer Josephine Baker to mind.
Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae3/6No stranger to hair ornaments, Monáe threaded her close crop with sparkling pieces by Tiffany & Co. for the Met Gala. To create a frame for the face, makeup artist Jessica Smalls focused on filling in Monáe’s brows and painting her lips with a high-intensity crimson (the winning shade: CoverGirl’s Outlast lipstick in You’re on Fire).
Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae4/6Meticulous down to her fingertips, two of Monáe’s dramatically adorned nails were hand painted to reflect the top of her dress, in shades of red.
Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae5/6Monáe fluffed her Ralph & Russo feathered gown—“hand done this week in New York,” says stylist Maeve Reilly—minutes before ascending the Met Gala carpet.
Photo: Courtesy of Janelle Monae6/6Inside the museum’s Temple of Dendur, Monáe added a little goth punk to her otherwise jazz-influenced ensemble with trimmed down leather “bikini” gloves from LaCrasia. “It was all about the edge with this look,” says Reilly.
