Bath’s Fashion Museum has famously been adding a ‘Dress of the Year’ to its collection since it set up shop in the 1960’s – but this week a dress chosen to go on display in the city – back in the year 2000 – has hit this week’s headlines in a slightly off-beat way.
Seems that this sheer and plunging chiffon silk dress – created by Donatella Versace – was chosen by actress Jennifer Lopez as her outfit to wear for the Grammy Awards in Hollywood that same year.
You could say it was a green dress that caught the world’s attention and almost caused melt-down on the world wide web.
This week, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt revealed that J-Lo’s stunning, palm-tree printed dress was the impetus behind the creation of Google Images.
‘At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen but we had no surefire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: J-Lo wearing that dress. Google Image Search was born,’ he said.
The dress – one of the most memorable moments of the early noughties – was even voted the fifth most iconic dress of all time in a Daily Telegraph poll, and this new announcement will surely confirm its place in sartorial history.
It was also a significant moment for designer Donatella Versace who – at the time – was struggling to find her feet as the fashion hose’s lead designer following the murder of her brother Gianna in 1997.
All this new publicity has been welcomed by Rosemary Harden who is the manager of Bath’s Fashion Museum – as people can come and see an identical Versace green dress at very close quarters.
You’ll just have to imagine J-Lo in it!
Check out the Fashion Museum’s website on www.fashionmuseum.co.uk
