Geri Halliwell – now Horner – left Britain swooning when she stepped out in her iconic Union Jack dress at the 1997 BRIT Awards.
The former Spice Girls singer shot to fame as Ginger Spice in the star-studded girl group during the 1990s – alongside Mel B, Emma Bunton, Mel C and Victoria Beckham.
However, Geri alone would go on to make modern pop history with her jaw-dropping dress at the 1997 BRIT Awards – which took place at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre on February 24 that year.
The Spice Girls were at the height of their fame during the 17th edition of the glam awards ceremony, and they certainly left Britain with plenty to talk about on that evening – from wardrobe blunders to Mel C’s infamous spat with Liam Gallagher.
(Image: Getty Images)
The Spice Girl ladies bagged a hefty stack of five nominations and two awards – including best Single for Wannabe and British Video of the Year for Say You’ll Be There.
The pop powerhouse even performed two of their hits at the ceremony – Wannabe and Who Do You Think You Are – and Geri dazzled the nation in her gorgeous dress which became forever synonymous with the Spice Girls.
For Who Do You Think You Are, Geri sizzled in a tight red, white and blue mini dress designed with a huge Union Jack flag stitched all over the front – with a white CND peace symbol on the back.
The next day, red-head Geri filled the front pages of newspapers around the globe in her dress – and the look has become known as one of the most memorable moments of the 1990s.
(Image: Getty Images)
She wasn’t always meant to wear the Union Jack dress though, because she was originally given a black Gucci mini dress to wear, but the singer decided to take matters into her own hands as she thought it was too “boring”.
Instead, Halliwell wanted to opt for something that was “celebrate being British”, so she asked her sister Karen to stitch a Union Jack tea towel onto the front – with the CND peace symbol stitched on the back of the black dress.
She chose the CND peace symbol as she didn’t want to be associated with the National Front.
Whilst Geri’s dress sent Britain swooning, the girl band were locked in a heated feud with Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher.
Before the event, Liam told the press he wasn’t going to attend the BRITs because he would smack the Spice Girls if he saw them there.
(Image: Redferns)
Hitting back at the Gallagher brother, Mel C told him “come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough” – when the band collected the award for Best Single.
A year after the ceremony, Geri sold her show-stealing dress at a charity auction to the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas – and it broke records.
She was gobsmacked when the dress sold for a whopping £41,320 – meaning it broke the Guinness World Record at the time for the most expensive item of clothing a pop star had ever sold.
The star donated the proceeds of the dress to a children’s cancer care charity, and the BBC said it “marks the end of Geri’s links with the Girl Power image of the past”.
(Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
If that wasn’t enough praise for the dress, the 2010 BRITs saw the Girl Power band’s rendition with the dress win Most Memorable Performance of 30 Years.
The flag dress also topped a poll in 2010.
Speaking about the dress in 2020, she told Vogue: “I’ve always tried to put my finger to the wind and feel whats going on right now, and if I feel it then you’ll feel it and we’ll connect it. So I thought, [it’s] The Brits, why not a British flag?”
However, it wasn’t all plain-sailing for Geri, because she also donned a long red dress with a daringly low-cut top on the night.
(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
When she walked up to collect the band’s award, her right breast slipped out of her dress – and it was right in front of host Ben Elton and the cameras.
When Geri finally reunited with her Spice Girls pals in 2007 after she left the band in 1998, a year after the famous 1997 BRITs, she decided to put on another Union Jack dress for old time’s sake.
This time, fashion wizard Roberto Cavalli made Geri a new dress modelled on the original – but this time the flag was made out of Swarovski crystals and rhinestones.
In 2012, Geri introduced a clothing line based upon her classic dress, and she even sported another Union Jack dress for the Spice World tour in 2019.
This one was a floor length piece which boasted royal designs on the red stripes – and she even wore a crown for the occasion.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
