14 DAY TRIAL // Beyonce owned the night at the 2014 Grammy Awards, starting from the moment she set foot on the red carpet, to her opening performance and the moment Jay Z thanked her for his win. On the red carpet, she wore a Michael Costello custom made dress and, according to the designer, it was just one of the 5 outfits he had prepared for her.
The gorgeous design, though all-white, didn’t come across as too bridal and that’s mostly because it included sheer panels that left most of Beyonce’s body exposed. And, if you think she looked insanely good, that’s because she did!
Costello tells E! News that Beyonce has lost so much weight she’s now a sample size: he started working on the dress without having her exact measurements and, to his surprise, when she tried the white gown, it fit like a glove.
“It was incredible! We didn't have any of her sizes or measurements. The dress was just made to fit a sample mannequin. It's smaller than a size 4. She is tiny! That dress is at least a 2/4. She looks amazing. I just love the way it all came together,” Costello says.
A size 2 in the US is a size 6 in the UK so, by all accounts, Beyonce is tiny.
Still, Costello was prepared for the worst, and that included the possibility that the dress might not fit or that Beyonce would end up not liking it. So, besides the white dress, which took 3 days to be put together, he also created 4 other outfits.
“We had a great team. I made four other pieces that night for Beyonce, so that her stylist Ty had good options,” Costello says.
As for the inspiration for the white gown, which turned out to be the most talked about outfit of the night, Costello explains that, “[it] was inspired by New York. The Winter Wonderland in New York. I've been obsessed with New York, the culture, the lifestyle.”
“I love visiting the city when it's covered in snow. I imagined snow falling onto plants, and trees. It was as if snow was falling onto fabric. Then I found the fabric and cut out the leaves and flowers. It all came out together magically. I remember sketching out the dress, and I thought this is exactly how I wanted to do the dress,” he says.
The dress will be included in the collection Winter Wonderland, which will be showcased at the New York Fashion Week. Costello says it also comes with a jacket in the same style.