Allen and Rae tried a few different options before pairing the curve-hugging skirt with a signature gray Thom Browne corset that cinched Rae into an hourglass shape and a Mikimoto pearl necklace, bringing new meaning to the term.”office siren.” “It just felt perfect,” she says of the look. The skirt, which cascaded under Browne’s exquisite tailoring, reflected the light in such a way that Rae seemed to have emerged from the water like a mermaid heading to land to live out the night as a human.

To bring the fantasy to the real world, Rae worked with the legendary makeup artist. Pat McGrath, who she calls a “visionary” with “an aquamarine heart,” to complement her bright blonde beach waves. “Every look she creates says it all and she knows exactly how to make a girl feel beautiful,” says Rae. “I am very lucky to work with her in these special moments.”

As for her accessories, Rae’s shell “bag” for the evening looked like she picked it up on the shore on the way to the awards show, and while it wasn’t functional, it contributed to her ethereal aesthetic. “Dara’s mind works in mysteriously wonderful ways and she came in and said, ‘I have a shell,’ and I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly,” she says. “Then he took out this conch shell and it was perfect.” Rae, leaning into fantasy, playfully posed with it as if it were a “mobile phone” throughout the night.

The scene smelled of Aquamarine, the charming 2006 film about friendship that bears the same name as Rae’s song, starring Sarah Paxton as the titular mermaid alongside best friends jojo, and Emma Roberts. “I had rewatched the movie for probably the thousandth time about a week before I went into the studio,” he says. Although the song does not completely reflect the film, Addison was inspired by what the word and color could convey about her own journey of self-discovery. “I wanted to find out what aquamarine meant to me,” she says. “It was just a perfect time to reflect on my transformation and get comfortable with change, accept it, align with yourself and really follow your heart and your instincts.”