Blake Lively paid tribute to Britney Spears in the best way. The Gossip Girl alum has been busy with press for her new film It Ends With Us, an adaptation of the Colleen Hoover book of the same name. While at the premiere in New York City on Aug. 6, she wore a dress that many Millennials will recognize it as one that Spears actually wore over 20 years ago.
Spears wore the vintage Versace gown in 2002 at a fashion show in Milan, and Lively confirmed to People at the It Ends With Us premiere that it is indeed “Britney’s actual dress. It should be in the Smithsonian or the Met. But it’s on me. I feel so lucky!” The dress is on par with the theme of the film and Lively’s press tour outfits as it includes lots of colors and plenty of flowers since her character, Lily Bloom, owns a floral shop in the movie.
After the premiere, Lively took to her Instagram Stories to share a message for Spears, alongside a photo of herself in the dress and another one of the singer in the dress. “Todays mood. The ultimate queen who made us all want to sparkle and write and share our stories,” Lively wrote. “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. Thank you for your example and your contribution to women telling their stories.”
Blake Lively is one to show off top tier fashion at events, whether it’d be matching the Met Gala carpet or staying on theme with a movie premiere. Just last month, she and bestie Gigi Hadid went to the Deadpool and Wolverine premiere in outfits representing the titular and fan-favorite Marvel characters. Lively, of course, was wearing a red body suit for her husband and Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds.
Even though It Ends With Us is an emotional roller coaster, Lively sure seemed to have fun playing dress up during the press tour and paying homage to both an icon and her character. The film releases in theaters on Friday, Aug. 9 and tickets are available now. Fans will want to prepare themselves, though, because it might be a pretty heavy film.