Janelle Monáe: 10 Best Red Carpet Looks, Ranked
Janelle Monáe is always someone you need to look out for when there is a red carpet. Whether it is a film premiere, award show, or the Met Gala, everyone’s…
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 02:
Janelle Monae attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City.
Janelle Monáe is always someone you need to look out for when there is a red carpet. Whether it is a film premiere, award show, or the Met Gala, everyone's eyes and cameras are pointed at Monáe.
Monáe can do it all. They are a Grammy-nominated singer, actor, and performer. This year, they have been nominated for two Grammys: Best Progressive R&B Album (The Age of Pleasure) and Album Of The Year (The Age of Pleasure). The Kansas native has also been in films such as the 2017 Oscar-winning Moonlight, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Hidden Figures, Antebellum, and more.
Janelle Monáe's LGBTQI+ Advocacy and Sexual Liberation
As much as their music and acting ability has resonated in culture, they've also used their platform to uplift members of the LGBTQI+ community. Last year, Monáe shared that they are nonbinary.
"I will always stand with Black women. But I just see everything that I am, beyond the binary," Monáe revealed on Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk at the time. According to Monáe their pronouns are "free as a motherf----" and use both they/them, her/she pronouns according to the Los Angeles Times.
Prior to them sharing their gender expression, Monáe told Rolling Stone in 2018 that they identify as pansexual.
In promotion for their Grammy-nominated album The Age of Pleasure, Monáe shared some NSFW content on social media that showed themselves lifting up their shirt to show their breast and sultry music videos with sexual innuendos that were up for debate on social media for weeks.
While the public has witnessed a "self renaissance," according to the Dirty Computer creator, this is nothing out of the ordinary. "Even when I was really, really wearing only suits, I was either in a suit or you would find me at my own parties naked. It was no in-between," she told Rolling Stone earlier this year.
Take a look at Janelle Monáe's 10 best red carpet outfits ranked below:
10.
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)Janelle Monáe always finds a way to make a style their own. For Billboard's 13th Annual Women In Music Event back in 2018 the "Float" singer wore a beige pant suit with a cutout at the crotch to make it look like a bodysuit. There's also elevated shoulder pads and both sleeves are cut on the side to show her bare forearm. What could have been a boring outfit was made 10x hotter with Monáe in it.
9.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)If there was an Oscar for Best Dressed Janelle Monáe would have easily won. The singer wore a silver ball gown at the 92nd Annual Academy Awards. The princess cut, statement hood, and sparkles all over set them apart from their peers.
8.
(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)For the 95th Annual Academy Awards, Janelle Monáe looked stunning in this black and orange gown. The top of the dress was a black bustier and the satin orange bottom was cut right beneath their belly button to give a two-piece dress effect. They accessorized with a wide black choker necklace with a gem in the middle and diamond rings.
7.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images,)Black dresses are a mainstay in wardrobes but something about Janelle Monáe's always bring out an expansive creativity. The dress features a cutout, a halter top, and the main attraction which is the the sheer bottom. Monáe is never afraid to show some skin on the red carpet and we aren't mad at it. They wore this dress to the 2022 BET Awards.
6.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)We love a mixed fabric moment. Janelle Monáe looked stunning in their dress at the 2023 BET Soul Train Awards. The strapless dress had sequins throughout, red, blue, polka dot, and green panels. The pattern was a daring move but so is Monáe.
5.
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Karl Lagerfeld)Janelle Monáe always turns heads on a red carpet but at the Met Gala is their true place to shine. For the 2023 Met Gala Celebrating "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty" Monáe wore a leather black bikini underneath a sheer petticoat. They paired it with oversize white and black platform shoes and it is one of their most daring outfits yet.
4.
(Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)Janelle Monáe, whew, where do we start? Not only is the dress make you do a double take but them in it makes it 10x a better visual. The sheer top for starters has several black pearls around it to make it a sight to see on its own. At the bottom it's a black suede material with a gorgeous cut out on the side. They were definitely turning heads at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
3.
(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)Janelle Monáe always looks good in her black dresses, but this red dress just does something for us. For the 54th NAACP Image Awards Monáe wore a bright satin red gown with a rounded corset at the top and a cutout on the side. They paired it with matching shoes and had very little jewelry to showcase the dress.
2.
(Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Netflix)At the Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery film premiere in Toronto Janelle Monáe looked beautiful in this 3D printed dress. It is a look that she has not done recently and it was nice to see the look make a comeback on the red carpet. They wore a white 3D-printed dress with an exaggerated right shoulder and a long chiffon train. Monáe stars as Cassandra "Andi" Brand in the film, as well as her twin sister, Helen.
1.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)Giving Janelle Monáe a theme is like giving candy to a baby. Monáe absolutely ate the 2022 Met Gala theme which was celebrating "In America: An Anthology of Fashion." If you can't see the old Hollywood in their dress, you might have to rewatch a couple of classics. The singer wore a sparkly black gown with a jewel-incrusted hood that screamed glitz and glamour.
