Quinta Brunson’s stylist for the Emmys defends her ‘wrinkled’ dress

Brunson won Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy

Quinta Brunson’s stylist for the 75th annual Emmy Awards has defended the dress she was wearing.

On Monday 15 January, Brunson arrived on the red carpet in a 1950s inspired dark pink satin sleeveless Dior dress with a bow on the front. She completed the look with a pair of brown heels, silver earrings and rings. The dress was covered in creases, which many people pointed out on X, formerly known as Twitter, causing the stylist to speak out.

The Abbott Elementary creator and actress’s outfit was turned into memes, with one user showing a video of her in the dress with an iron running over it. The caption read: “Girl hold still.”

One commenter wrote about the dress on Instagram on the celebrity fashion account Check the Tag, “I like the colour, though not sure if it suits her but the creases! How was she allowed out?”

Another wrote: “Love the shape, hate the wrinkles. I know it’s supposed to be wrinkled with intention but it just looks like it [wasn’t] steamed enough. Like it needed to be all the way wrinkled if that makes sense.”

“I’m sorry but this is a huge miss. Love her and her stylist but rumpled fabric on the red carpet will never read anything other than a mess,” a third commenter wrote.

The stylist herself ended up chiming in and responding to a comment giving her reasoning for why she put the actress in the dress that she did. Jessica Paster wrote: “Guys guys guys… it’s crushed satin… I knew you were gonna say something!! It’s beautiful silloette [sic] on her and fabric… and the colour is gorgeous on her.”

The same fan responded to the comment, writing: “I understand that’s the fabric but it just doesn’t look good! I’m sorry! Satin on the red carpet? Crushed satin? I appreciate your work though!”

Brunson went on to receive the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy at the event, and made history as the first Black woman to win the award. “Thank you so much just I don’t know why I’m so emotional, I think just like, the Carol Burnett of it all,” she said while accepting the Emmy.

“Thank you so much I love making Abbott Elementary so much and I am so happy to be able to live my dream and act out comedy, and I say it every time and I just love comedy so much that I am so happy to be able to get this,” she continued.

“I didn’t prepare anything because I just didn’t think... Oh god. I love my mom, my dad. My sisters, my brothers. My entire family so much. I love my husband. I’m so happy. I love my cast. Oh, I love Abbott Elementary. Thank you so much.”

The actress has previously opened up about red carpet dressing in a May 2023 story for InStyle, in which she discussed how difficult it can be to find the right stylist to carry out her vision on the red carpet.

“Not only am I 4-foot-11, [but] I’m 4-foot-11 with breasts and a butt,” Brunson said. “And that’s just the cardinal sin: to be short and have the nerve to have any type of curve.”

“There were times where I would work with other stylists and have to be like: ‘I’m not this young,’ or, ‘this feels too young for me.’ And it would be like: ‘No, you can pull it off,’” Brunson continued.

“And I was like: ‘But it’s not about pulling it off. It’s about what I want to represent when I come to certain award shows or certain events I have to do.’”