You know that feeling you get when one of your homegirls finally gets her shine? It could be a job promotion, an award or even a marriage proposal, but you’re simply thrilled that someone else has recognized the worth of this particularly fabulous woman. That’s how we felt upon learning that Tiffany Haddish had earned a spot not only on the cover of Time magazine’s Most Influential People cover (interviewed by no less than Kevin Hart) but also on one of May’s dual covers of W Magazine, opposite Ready Player One actor Tye Sheridan.
On a cover appropriately subtitled “Dare to Be You,” Haddish is clad in a red gown donned with an extravagant bow-shaped bodice. Considering the monumental year this actress and comedian has had, we can only assume that the styling was meant to evoke the genuine gift she’s been to an increasingly stale entertainment industry. After all, who keeps it realer than Tiffany Haddish? As told to W:
When I was shooting Girls Trip ... I had a knockoff Michael Kors bag that said MLK instead of MK. Jada told me that I shouldn’t have knockoff stuff. I told her that my philosophy is, Whatever the bag costs, I should be able to keep that amount of cash in the bag. If it’s a $300 purse, I have to put $300 in cash in that purse. I do not want a bag that is more expensive than the cash I have to put in it.
Things are going good for me now, so I am graduating to your Fendis and your Guccis. But I better have the cash equivalent, or I’m not buying the purse. And if things start to go wrong, I’m going right back to my knockoffs. When you’re somebody like me, who’s been homeless, clothes are not that important. Clothes are not a roof over my head, food in my stomach, my family’s health—that’s what money is for. But fashion helps get more money. So, we ride.
Of course our girl—giving Marie Antoinette realness—has now gone from bootleg bags to haute couture (or both). Many of us have, with no shame. But these days, while Haddish can afford haute couture, she still shops cost-per-wear. Just consider her now highly recognizable white, high-necked Alexander McQueen gown, which she wore while stealing the show at the 2018 Oscars and during her hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. Here’s what she told W:
“And I might wear it again.” ... “Here’s the story of that dress: I hired a stylist for Girls Trip, and she said, ‘Girl, if you’re trying to make it to the next level in your career, you’re going to have to spend a little money.’ I said, ‘I’m down to look my best. Whatever it takes.’ ” The stylist brought several options, and the only one that fit [Haddish’s] body was the McQueen. It was perfect. “I should’ve known—wasn’t no price tag on that dress. So I wear it for Girls Trip, and then they give me the receipt. When I saw the receipt, I cried. The dress was $4,122! So I’m wearing it multiple fucking times. I don’t care what nobody say—that’s a down payment on a car, that’s a medical bill. So, even though everyone says I shouldn’t wear the dress in public again, I’m wearing it.”
Girl, we hear you ... though, like many, we wonder whether that dress should’ve accompanied Haddish to the winner’s podium on Oscar night. In fact, although it wasn’t conventional Oscar fare, many thought that Haddish’s performance in Girls Trip deserved major accolades. We can only fantasize about that speech.
“I could have been mad,” [Haddish told W]. ... “But I would always rather try to be funny in any situation. Even when people are laughing at me in a mean way, I still feel some kind of healing from it. When I get super-depressed, I’ll go on YouTube and look up “babies laughing” just to change my mood. Epic fails are funny, too,” she continued. “In failure, there can be success: By that I mean you can learn what not to do. I find the funny in a lot of failures, because I’ve had enough of them. But I am resilient: My soul is very determined.”
W Magazine Editor-in-Chief Stefano Tonchi agrees that Haddish is a singular voice and powerhouse soul, writing:
The idea of becoming who you want to be led us to choose Tiffany Haddish as one of our cover stars. After her brilliant performance in the blockbuster movie Girls Trip and her appearances on Saturday Night Live and at the Oscars, Haddish is having a very well-deserved moment.
Well-deserved, indeed. We can’t wait to see what comes next for Tiffany Haddish. But what we do know is that our round-the-way cover girl once again proved one thing: She ready.