Rihanna was the belle of the ball at New York City’s Lincoln Center Monday, showing off both her body and fashion sense at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards, where the “We Found Love” singer claimed the Fashion Icon Award in a sexy, crystal-laden fishnet gown.

"Fashion has always been my defense mechanism,” the “Umbrella” singer, 26, said as she claimed the vaunted honors in an amazing, Adam Selman-designed gown dripping with more than 200,000 Swarovski crystals.

The “Disturbia” singer, whose set trends with her enigmatic looks and pallet of hairdos, said she “can compensate for all my weaknesses with my fashion,” as “there are rules, but rules are meant to be broken."

Vogue editrix Anna Wintour, who presented the award, praised the Barbadian beauty for her daredevil sense of style, saying that whenever the multiplatinum singer gets dressed, “the point is to be audacious, even jaw-dropping or button-pushing."