Janelle Monae's Academy Awards dress, hand-embroidered with 168,000 crystals, 600 hours in the making.

Janelle Monae's Academy Awards dress, hand-embroidered with 168,000 crystals, 600 hours in the making.

If you're still debating the winner of the Academy Award for "Best Dressed," take note of the dazzling complexity of Janelle Monet's Academy Award dress (opens in new tab). According to Ralph Lauren, the dress "combines lacquered silk lamé tulle with three sizes of faceted crystals," more than 168,000 to be exact.

Moreover, all of those 168,000 crystals were embroidered onto the gown by hand, and the embroidery took a total of 600 hours. This is the equivalent of 25 days non-stop without a bathroom break.

If you missed last night's Oscars (or only watched indirectly through your Twitter timeline), Monae's opening performance is definitely worth catching up on. For one thing, she addressed two major criticisms of this year's awards ceremony. One was the overwhelming whiteness of the nominees and the absence of a single woman in the Best Director category. As she sang, "Parasites, it's time to shine," she continued, as summarized by The Guardian (opens in new tab).

"Tonight we celebrate women who have directed phenomenal films," Monáe declared. 'I am happy to stand here as a Black queer artist telling a story. Happy Black History Month.

Note Billy Porter's stunning rendition of Elton John's "I'm Still Standing," Monaye in Florence Pugh's frightening midsomer floral coat, and Brad Pitt's absolute terror at the prospect of audience participation! I want you to. Fun!

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