Zooey Deschanel goes Hawaiian tropic. Photo: Michael Buckner, Getty Images

At the Maui Film Festival actress and fashion icon Zooey Deschanel confessed to her island dress dilemma and winning her first award. With fiance Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie close by, Zooey accepted the honor with style, grace and true Hawaiian spirit.

"I didn't really know how to dress for this because I don't spend a lot of time at the beach. I was looking for things that looked beach-y. And this looked beach-y to me," she said donning a white Shoshanna frock and a plumeria lei.
(Not her usual awards ceremony accessory.)

Deschanel and Gibbard dined with country music legend Willie Nelson and actress Virginia Madsen at Shep Gordon's Wailea hotspot, Mala, before heading over to the Sand Dance Theater where her tribute followed a showing of the 2008 film "Surf's Up" on the sands of Maui's most illustrious beach. "We have a beach in Los Angeles. It's different here.This seems very relaxed," she said.

Festival director Barry Rivers presented the actress with the Maui Film Festival Nova Award. Deschanel joked, "I've never gotten an award before so I'm pretty excited for this."

The startlet answered questions from the scores of admirers, while the crowd roared. Fans requested photos, autographs and most of all... a song.

Declining the request to sing, the actress promised to come back next year and perform music from her band She & Him.

Sundance favorite "500 Days of Summer," starring Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, hits theaters in July.