Tiffany Haddish Honored Her Heritage With This Dress

Original Story Published by: Channing Hargrove for Refinery29

Tiffany Haddish (above) is having one hell of a weekend. On Friday, there was speculation Beyoncé referenced her in her latest single with DJ Khaled, “Top Off.” On Saturday, Haddish lost her Fendi bag, only to have a “magical soul” return it with everything inside (including her maxi pad). And on Sunday, the Girls Trip star attended the 90th annual Oscars wearing a glamorous nod to her heritage.

She arrived on the E! News red carpet, announcing that “the princess of Eritrea has arrived.” She chose an authentic Eritrean dress to honor her late father. “My father is from Eritrea and he passed away last year, and he said I’d end up here. And if I ever end up at the #Oscars, [he said to] to honor my people” she told E! News’ Ryan Seacrest. “So, I’m honoring my fellow Eritreans.”

The habesha kemis is an ankle-length dress typically worn by Ethiopian and Eritrean women to formal events. Habesha women usually wear a a shawl, called a netela, with the gown. The actress looked stunning in her cream habesha kemis, complimented with black accents and a coordinating black netela. The look was a big hit on Twitter with users sounding off about how much this act of representation for Eritrean meant.