Eva Mendes Makes First Public Appearance After Skipping Out On Award Season

She opted out of making public appearances with beau Ryan Gosling throughout award season, but Eva Mendes has once again stepped back into the spotlight to continue promoting her fashion collection for New York and Company.

According to E! News, the actress and fashion designer, 43, made her first major public appearance in six months at the opening of a new New York and Company store in Miami this week, and showed that despite taking long periods of time out of the spotlight to focus on being a mother to her two daughters, she still knows how to show off her sense of style.

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For the event, Mendes wore a gorgeous aquamarine one-shoulder gown with a multi-colored belt cinched at her waist. She paired the look with pretty black dress sandals and hoop earrings, and oozed sex appeal with her curly locks tousled over one shoulder. It was her first appearance since also attending her own New York and Company fashion show in September 2016.

Mendes had been expected to attend some events with her longtime partner Gosling earlier this year, after he was nominated for acting awards several times over for his role in “La La Land.” However, she opted out of attending with Gosling even bringing his sister, Mandi, to the Oscars as his date instead.

Though Mendes’ reluctance to attend award shows with her partner could be attributed back to the couple’s notorious privacy (they have rarely ever appeared on red carpets together), she admitted to Shape Magazine afterwards that she preferred staying at home with their girls, Esmeralda Amada, 2, and Amada Lee, 10 months.

“What people don’t know about me is that I love being home,” she said. “Instead of hitting the red carpet, I’d rather be with our girls.”