Billy Porter is so good at being the best-dressed person in the room that if we were ever invited to the same event, I would have to think long and hard about going at all.
Porter showed up at the Tony Awards Sunday night wearing a custom-made red velvet suit with glossy, pink lapels and a floofy, uterus-shaped train. He told The Hollywood Reporter that the look is a “beautiful nod to Elizabethan couture,” and added that he hoped he could make a statement about reproductive rights without being obvious: “At the fitting, we spoke about making a pattern on the train that was in the shape of a uterus, but not obvious, of course. And I thought it was awesome because women’s rights are under attack right now. I’m an advocate for all who are disenfranchised. None of us are free until we’re all free!”
But the terrifying thing about Porter’s commitment to stunting on absolutely everyone is how detail-oriented he is. This is what puts him in a league of his own; beyond the provocative shapes and high-concept looks he’s brought to the red carpet, he ties everything together with an equally thorough approach to his accessories. Porter’s Tony Awards outfit contains over 30,000 Swarovski crystals, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and was made from leftover curtain backdrop from Kinky Boots, which Porter previously starred in and won a Tony Award and Grammy Award for.
His lapel is adorned with two brooches, and there’s another at his collar, like a bolo tie but not corny. The uterus train is replete with what looks like embroidered flowers, and we get a nice look at both the velvet and the pink tulle in the front. But the best part of all are his shoes, which make me want to run out and buy a pair of kitten heel slides right now.
In short, this outfit gives me hope for the future—the future of Billy Porter showing up at industry events and making everyone else look underdressed.