A look back at the impact of Jennifer Lopez' iconic Versace dress at the 2000 Grammys
Throughout her decades-long career, triple-threat Jennifer Lopez has made some major achievements across dancing, singing, and acting.
Though there are certainly many, arguably one of her most unforgettable moments was when she stepped on the red carpet for the 42nd Grammy Awards wearing her instantly iconic green Versace dress.
The show-stealing fashion moment took place on February 23rd, 2000, and it catapulted not only thousands of more iterations, exhibitions in museums, never-ending global media coverage, and solidified the star in fashion history, but she even sparked the creation of Google Images.
WATCH: All about Jennifer Lopez' unforgettable green dress
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The green dress was a massive turning point, not only for the singer, but for the designer behind it, Donatella Versace, who was just refinding her footing within her brand and the world of fashion since the assassination of Versace's creator, and her brother, Gianni Versace, just three years prior.
The gown was made of a silk chiffon material, its sheer fabric printed with a tropical leaf and bamboo pattern. Its most significant – and at the time shocking – feature however, was its daring cut. The dress featured so plunging of a neckline that it only ended after J.Lo's belly button, and what's more, its center slit nearly met it, exposing the only thing protecting her from the dress' transparent material, aqua blue underwear.
Though the dress is largely associated with the Let's Get Loud hitmaker, she is not the only star to have worn it. It was first presented on the runway by model Amber Valetta, and just a month before the 42nd Grammy Awards, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell wore it to the NRJ Music Awards in France, though she did not receive the same amount of attention J.Lo did. Donatella herself also wore it before the Grammys, when attending the Met Gala on December 6, 1999.
The star instantly became part of fashion and Grammy history
At the time, the dress' price point was set to $15,000, and subsequent remakes of it selling through consignment stores are being sold anywhere from $4,000 and $7,000 to its original reported price of $15,000.
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J.Lo attended the momentous awards ceremony with her then boyfriend, Sean Combs, who has previously used the names Puff Daddy and Diddy. They dated from 1999 to 2001, and she went on to date her now-husband Ben Affleck the following year.
Jennifer went viral yet again for the dress in September of 2019
Google, which was founded in 1998, attributes the demand for pictures of her in the dress as the reason they launched Google Images, previously Google Image Search, six months later on July 12, 2001.
The El Cantante actress became iconic twice-over for the dress when she again wore the look in 2019 for Versace's Spring 2020 runway show in Milan. As of 2015, she still owns the original dress.
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