13 Going on 30 star Christa B Allen stuns in recreation of film’s iconic Versace dress
13 Going on 30 star Christa B Allen is looking back on her iconic role while wearing a recreation of the signature Versace dress from the film.
Allen took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a video of herself in the gown, in honour of the 20th anniversary of 13 Going on 30. In the hit film, Allen played 13-year-old Jenna Rink, who is fed up with junior high and magically transforms into an adult (played by Jennifer Garner), after wishing to be 30.
In the video, Allen could be seen wearing a multi-coloured gown with light blue straps and a slit. The actor, who had her hair in a high ponytail, paired the outfit with a green purse, silver heels, and a butterfly necklace, just like the one that Garner wore in the film. The dress was a longer version of Garner’s mini-dress, which her character wore to a glamorous work party.
The clip was set to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” which played in the movie while Jenna was getting ready for the party.
Allen took to the caption to celebrate the film premiering in theatres 20 years ago, before noting that it “has been delighting audiences for two decades now”. She expressed her gratitude to everyone who worked on the film, and described how she was inspired to recreate the dress from it.
“Oh how the time flies. Thank you to everyone who took part in creating this sweet film, and everyone who has enjoyed it and Jenna Rink ever since,” she wrote. “To celebrate this momentous day and share in our collective love for the film, Jenna Rink and her wardrobe, I reimagined the iconic dress as a gown with chainmail and rhinestones.”
The Meet Me in Rome star went on to detail some of the ideas she had while creating the dress, before noting that she brought the look to life with the help of a designer at The Fitting Agency.
“I wanted to cover the entire dress in rhinestones but this already took so many hours as they’re each individually placed by hand… it will take hundreds of hours to complete the way I envisioned it,” she added. “A huge thank you to Laura, my incredible co-designer at @tfittingagency who brought this vision to life!!”
While the original mini-dress, which was created by Versace, is a famous piece of movie history, the actual dress appears to be missing. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, 13 Going on 30’s costume designer Susie DeSanto said that once the movie finished filming, she had no idea what happened to the dress. “We don’t even know where the dress is,” she explained.
Garner also chimed in to share her thoughts about the influence of the dress, recalling how it appeared to make its way into an episode of the hit ‘90s series, Sex and the City.
“I can’t believe this dress has taken on a whole life of its own. I did not keep one stitch of clothes from that movie. The dress went back to the warehouse and actually showed up on a background player in Sex and the City at some point,” she said. “And then it just disappeared. Nobody knows where it is. Somebody has that dress.”
However, DeSanto said in another interview with People that when the mini-dress was shown in the TV programme, she didn’t think that it was the actual outfit from 13 Going on 30.
“I have a theory about that,” she explained. “We were based in Los Angeles. There weren’t many of those Versace dresses to begin with. It was a very limited run, so I think somebody found that dress in a consignment store in New York [for Sex and the City]. I don’t think it was Jen’s dress. Her dress went into a warehouse, and I sadly think it’s in a landfill somewhere. Who knows where it is?”
