By India Espy-Jones ·Updated March 18, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

Not many can claim they’ve made beauty history. But, Vanessa Williams can. In 1984, she became the first Black woman to win Miss America. Then, at just 21 years old, the Queen later resigned due to media controversy. Specifically, photos of her were non-consensually published in Penthouse magazine. While her public fall from grace was devastating at the time, she bounced back 10-fold. Williams reclaimed her crown with a successful career as a singer and actress, starring in shows like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. She event went on to star on Broadway as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada musical. In short, she’s never had to prove to us why she’s forever our beauty queen. 

Her original claim to fame was found in her glamorous pageantry portraits. In one portrait, for example, she wore a coifed beehive, red lip, and dark eye makeup, which accentuated her starry eyes. That same year, she accepted her historic Miss America crown in a curled bob cut. She held the scepter between her pink-painted fingertips. By the ‘90s, she opted for straight hair decoding=”async” src=”https://media.essence.com/vxcjywbwpa/uploads/2026/03/GettyImages-458868542-scaled.jpg” alt=”Why Vanessa Williams Is Our Forever Beauty Queen” width=”400″ height=”582″ />LOS ANGELES – 1984:Actress Vanessa Williams poses for a portrait in 1984 in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)NO SALES RESTRICTIONS 2/29/00 New York, NY. Vanessa Williams with her son Devin at the launch of “Sesame Street Beginnings: Language To Literacy” project. Photo by Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Online USA, Inc.1/22/96 LOS ANGELES, CA VANESSA WILLIAMS AT THE 1996 GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDSNEW YORK – FEBRUARY 04:Model Vanessa Williams walks the runway at the Heart Truth Red Dress Collection during the Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park February 4, 2004 in New York City.(Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CA – 1989:Former Miss USA, singer and actress, Vanessa Williams poses with her two children Melanie and Jillian in a 1989 Los Angeles, California, photo portrait session. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)Vanessa L. Williams at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)Vanessa L. Williams (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 16:Actress Vanessa Williams arrives at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Shrine Auditorium on September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Dan MacMedan/WireImage)Vanessa L. Williams (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Vanessa Williams during “Eraser” Los Angeles Premiere at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Vanessa L. Williams during American All-Star Tribute To Oprah Winfrey at McCallum Theater in Palm Desert, California, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Vanessa L. Williams during Hollywood Premiere of “Coming To America” at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Vanessa L. Williams during Vanessa Williams Signs Copies of Her New Album “The Sweetest Days” at Sam Goodie in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)Vanessa Williams on 9/24/97 in Chicago, Il. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)NEW YORK – AUGUST 1991:Vanessa Williams poses for a portait in August 1991 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Catherine McGann/Getty Images)Close-up portrait of American model, acrtess, and singer Vanessa L. Williams, mid 1980s or early 1990s. (Photo by Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 13:Actress Vanessa Williams attends HBO’s 70th Annual Golden Globes after partyat Circa 55 Restaurant on January 13, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Mark Sullivan/WireImage)LOS ANGELES – 1984:Actress Vanessa Williams poses for a portrait in 1984 in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES – 1986:Actress Vanessa Williams poses for a portrait in 1986 in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 22:Vanessa Williams attends 31st Annual Grammy Awards on February 22, 1989 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 22:Vanessa Williams attends the 64th annual Outer Critics Circle 2013-14 Award Nominations announcement at New York Friars Club on April 22, 2014 in New York City.(Photo by Mireya Acierto/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 15:Vanessa Williamsattends Carmen Marc Valvo Women’s and Men’s Collection S/S 2016 during New York Fashion Week: The Showsat The Arc, Skylight at Moynihan Station on September 15, 2015 in New York City.(Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Carmen Marc Valvo)LOS ANGELES – 1986:Actress and singer Vanessa Williams poses for a portrait session in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry Langdon/Getty Images)(Original Caption) Atlantic City, New Jersey: Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams of New York, is all smiles as she poses for photographs after becoming the 63rd Miss America and the first Black woman in the history of the pageant to be crowned here, late September 17.Vanessa Williams wears a revealing costume at the reopening of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. (Photo by LGI Stock/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 27:American actress and singer Vanessa L. Williams attends The 67th Annual Academy Awards – Arrivals on March 27, 1995 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.(Photo by Ron Davis/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 19:Vanessa Williams poses at the opening night of The Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ at The Laura Pels Theatre on February 19, 2019 in New York City..(Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 18: Vanessa Williams poses backstage as she performs a concert as part of The Diamond Series at 54 Below on December 18, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 19: Vanessa Williams attend the “Tripped Up” New York screening at Regal Union Square on October 19, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images)NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 16: Vanessa Williams poses backstage on her opening night performance for her residency at 54 Below on February 16, 2026 in New York City.(Photo by Bruce Glikas/WireImage) TOPICS:  beauty evolution Vanessa Williams

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