As Selma Blair walked the carpet at Vanity Fair’s Oscar Party, she was overcome with emotion.
During the 46-year-old’s first high profile appearance since revealing her multiple sclerosis diagnosis last year, she told reporters “It took a lot to come out here.”
She looked incredible in a pastel chiffon Ralph & Russo gown. The dress featured a flowing cape and she complimented it with an embellished necklace, but her cane – a necessity, for Blair – was the greatest accessory of the night.
It had been pimped out with patent leather, a pink diamond and her monogram.
She wrote on Instagram that she had wanted a special cane for the Vanity Fair party and after receiving help from her friends and her partner David Lyons to customise it, she "burst into tears".
In another Instagram post after the event, Blair shared a photo of her walking the carpet holding hands with her manager Troy Nankin.
In her caption she thanked him and the rest of her support group for supporting her and for wanting her to "shine brightly in a time that can be so challenging".
"[Nankin] knew I wanted to be able to stand proudly as the woman I have become and hope to be. To be a part of something so special when my body won’t move clearly yet.
"And then I felt the love from the photographers who have watched me goof around on red carpets since I was in my twenties. I felt the warmth of the bulbs. The strength of my gown. His attentive touch.
"And still I hoped my brain could send signals for the remainder of my time there. And I sobbed. And I appreciated every single second. Every surprising tear, he was there. As he has always been. And that is the reason I could. Thank you Troy. We got me just where I wanted to be. For a night."
Blair shared her diagnosis publicly in October after being diagnosed in August.
Multiple sclerosis in an incurable condition, interfering with nerve impulses within the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
"I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things," she wrote on Instagram.
Seeing disability represented and visible at such a high profile event was extremely important, especially for those living with disability.
Top Comments
My father died from ms. His last days were just unbearable for everyone. Everytime I see her a great sorrow envelopes me for dad, and Selmas future, her closest humans. Every minute detail of dads last days are etched in my mind. I weep for those with ms.
Not even noticing the cane - loving the dress! It's a liquorice allsort!