Janelle Monáe Takes Over Halloween With Creature Carnival Look in Los Angeles

Janelle Monáe appeared as a green-tinged creature at a Bacardi-sponsored festival in Los Angeles on Oct. 29, wearing prosthetic hands and a hot pink swirl in place of one eye. The look marked her second year working with the rum brand as the spirits partner of Wondaween: Creature Carnival, held at a secret Los Angeles location.

The costume covered Monáe's face in wrinkled, green-tinted prosthetics. She topped a peachy pink shag wig with a black hat, wore a ruffled white blouse with black-and-white striped suspenders, and layered long pearl strands with black beads. Her prosthetic hands ended in bloody knuckles. In one hand she held the Spookito, a Bacardi drink made with 1.5 ounces of Bacardi Superior rum, 1 ounce of lime juice, 0.5 ounce of simple syrup, 0.25 ounce of grenadine, 8 to 10 mint leaves and soda water.

Monáe has described Halloween as a recurring part of her life since childhood. "Halloween is such a happy space for me," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "It has been since I was a kid. It opens a larger conversation of how do we become agents of joy? How do we become agents of happy? How do we become agents of imagination? I'm just doing what I want to see more of .. I do this because my heart needs it."

Her costume work stretches back to her youth in Kansas City, where she dressed as Chucky with a mask and overalls. She told Dread Central she slept in the mask, and that her mother said: "I think something's wrong with you, but I love you." Today, the planning for a single look can take years. Monáe told People that her E.T. costume took two years to build, with designer and tailor Alex Navarro and stylist Alexandra Mandelkorn working on the outfits.

Monáe has appeared in several costumes across recent years. On Oct. 6, 2025, at the "Frankenstein" premiere, she wore facial prosthetics with a long black coat, white shirt, skinny black tie, bowler hat, red flower pin and black leather gloves. At the Santa Monica Pier for Wondaween: Vampire Beach, she wore a black latex cape over a tattooed prosthetic chest, with fangs, pointed ears and a hot pink collar. She also appeared as Jim Carrey's green-faced "The Mask" character in a canary yellow suit, matching fedora, polka-dot tie and black-and-white saddle shoes.

On "The Jennifer Hudson Show," Monáe wore a striped top hat, an oversized red bow tie and a furry black suit for a Cat in the Hat segment while books flew through the air. She stayed in character through the full interview. She later told Vogue that she and the Cat in the Hat share black and white with a pop of red. On the same show, wrapped in a white knit blanket, she rasped Hudson's name in the voice of E.T.

Monáe has also spoken about the scope she gives each costume. "When I get into costume, I transform," she told the Los Angeles Times. "Whether I'm a white rabbit or Diva Plavalaguna, when I say I was these characters, I'm saying the entire day and night that you interacted with me, I was those characters." She added that Wondaween season allows "all of the Janelles" inside her to be realized.