September 23, 2019 |
Euphoria. Ecstasy. Frenzy. This past Milan Fashion Week can be summed up in just one moment lasting a minute or so when the artist best known as JLo walked down the Versace catwalk in a SS20 version of her (truly) iconic jungle dress from the Grammys. Over 48 hours have passed and this is still the only thing everyone can talk about. That’s not to say some pretty amazing shows haven’t blown our minds, but this is JLo strutting her stuff down the catwalk. No fashion can compare.
The story behind Lopez’ sashay at the Versace show dates back to 2000 when her appearance at the Grammys supposedly inspired the launch of Goggle Image search. The barely-there slinkiness, a game of transparency and colour… It was a masterful red carpet performance that will forever carry the era of noughties fashion on its back. For SS20, Donatella Versace decided to create a full collection inspired by the dress and its print, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the major moment. But did you know that we were almost banished of this moment? As JLo told Vogue in a recent video, the dress was one of the last resorts on her stylist’s rack. A whole range of women (including Spice Girl Geri Halliwell) walked the carpets in variations of the dress before the Grammys, halting the ultimate red alert for a celebrity stylist. But this is Jenny from the Block and what she wants, she gets. And so she slipped into the dress, grabbed P. Diddy under her arm and proceeded to drop jaws around the world.
With the exact same success, JLo taught the kids how to catwalk this past Saturday at the Palazzo delle Scintille as she closed Versace’s show. Everything has already been said about the incredible impact this dress has had on fashion, red carpet dressing, pop culture and even technology, so the only thing that’s left to do is to put the two dresses against each other and compare.
How many differences can you spot? The bottom half of dress is basically the same, the panty now turning from a subtle turquoise into a matching print, bejewelled for the gawds. The pelvic brooch has also got an update – it’s now in signature Versace gold. Lopez has previously worn bodycon versions of the jungle dress on stage, but this 20th anniversary one is by far the most revealing. The top part of the dress is a middle finger to all those people who think women over 50 need to dress a certain way. As risqué as she played in 2000, Jennifer Lopez still managed to take it further. The maxi cleavage is now slashed – without sleeves, ruched and fitted to the body and embroidered with green flowers. Even the back is exposed, showing off every inch of perfection. There’s one big lesson to take away from this: time goes by, fashion changes, but JLo stays the same fabulous self we fell in love with as one of the Fly Girls.
