Blake Lively Honors Britney Spears By Wearing Her ‘Actual’ Versace Dress

During the red carpet premiere of the movie It Ends with Us in New York City on Tuesday night, actress Blake Lively brought out a piece from the archives that paid homage to pop icon Britney Spears, 42.

Lively, 36, was seen wearing Britney Spears’ vintage Versace gown, which the singer wore back in 2002. 

“It is Britney’s actual dress,” the Gossip Girl alum revealed to People. “It should be in the Smithsonian or in the Met. But it’s on me. I feel so lucky!” 

The iconic Versace dress plays into the floral theme Lively has been using for the summer for her character, Lily Bloom, who owns a flower shop in the latest film she’s starring in. Blake’s vintage Versace dress, which Blake has now worn, is multicolored, incorporating traditional spring colors such as pastel blue, light pink, and green. Along with that, it also has a one-shoulder halter neckline and a different cutout across Lively’s bodice. 

Blake accessorized her ensemble with rings from Lorraine Schwartz’s jewelry line. Each ring matched the colors of the dress, such as vibrant pink and pastel blue, and dangling drop earrings of the same colors. Lively kept her shoes simple and wore iridescent strappy heels. Lively’s glam also enhanced the gown’s colors. Accompanying the dress was a soft pink eyeshadow on her eyes, which also matched her matte lipstick. Her blonde hair was styled in loose waves that flowed down her back.

“Today’s mood. The ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and share our stories,” Lively wrote above a photo of Spears wearing the Versace attire in 2002 that she shared on her Instagram Stories.

“Britney, us Millennials all have a story of a moment, or of years that you made us want to shine and inspire awe, with strength, and joy, and immensely hard work,” her caption read. “Thank you for your example and your contribution to women telling their stories.”

Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, was also on the red carpet, paying homage to his wife’s character. Reynolds wore an olive-green suit with a white floral boutonniere. The couple was also joined by Reynold’s Deadpool and Wolverine costar Hugh Jackman. 

Since the promo for the movie, which is based on Collen Hoover’s book of the same name, Lively has been wearing florals in any way she can find them. Lively says that while promoting her Blake Brown haircare line, she loves method dressing when promoting a project because it allows her to embody the character she’s playing at the time.

“I’m so excited method dressing is such a thing now because years ago when I did A Simple Favor, people were like, ‘Why are you dressing like your character? Why are you in suits?’” Lively explained. “And I was like, because we have no marketing money to promote this movie.”

She added: “It’s a small movie and the only thing people really pay attention to at these junket interviews is the photos of fashion so if I just wear men’s suits, people are going to go, ‘Why is she just wearing suits?’ And then they’re going to go, ‘Oh, because she’s in a movie and she’s wearing men’s suits.’ It’s a marketing hack to try to get people to pay attention to our movie. And it worked.”