Heartbreak hotel is a thing of the past. Or at least that’s what Jennifer Lopez is making it look like. The multi-faceted global icon marked her appearance on day 1 of the Toronto International Film Festival and inadvertently turned heads. JLo knows how to make a splash and considering this marked her first red carpet following news of her filing for divorce from husband of (almost) 2 years, Ben Affleck, the stakes were high. And boy did she deliver. Say hello to the next pop culture update on the hallowed ‘revenge dress’.
Risqué, bow-wrapped in coquette
Day 1 of TIFF saw the red carpet being rolled out for the premiere of sports drama biopic Unstoppable. Jennifer stars in the film which has been produced by Ben. While the latter was predictably a no-show for the big night, everyone knows JLo is not one to shy away from the lime lights.
She arrived looking drop-dead gorgeous in a Tamara Ralph FW 2024 couture number. The gown follows the silhouette and cut of a sheath dress, albeit thoroughly disco-core. Now imagine a svelte panel of bare skin running on either side held together by a trail of velveteen, black bows (this is where the callback to the revenge dress factors in!). So coquette. So contemporary.
The shimmering silver on the body of the dress is off-set well by the black of the bows, which are by the way, very big right now. A silver box clutch and matching stilettos make for the final details.
What is the revenge dress?
In 1994, Prince Charles unorthodoxly sent shock waves through the world as he admitted to having cheated on Princess Diana during his sit down interview with Jonathan Dimbleby. On June 29, Princess Diana arrived for a fundraising dinner at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens. In one of the first big fashion response moments of global significance, she turned up in a Christina Stambolian off-the-shoulders, black and silken evening gown.
The moment was iconic, becoming evergreen in the annals of royal pop culture. Speaking specifically of the dress, Princess Di had owned it for 3 years before she finally decided to pull it out for the June dinner. The apprehension earlier had been about the dress being too risky. However, Anna Harvey, her former stylist, revealed that the only intention for the night was for Diana to look like “a million dollars”, and that she did.
In Tina Brown’s book, The Diana Chronicles, Christina, elaborated the poetic rationale behind the sartorial serve. Comparing Princess Di to to the black swan Odile in Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake, she said, “she chose not to play the scene like Odette, innocent in white. She played it like Odile. She was clearly angry”.
The dress has since traversed quite the journey. It was sold at a July 1997 auction to a Scottish couple who expressed their desire to use it to raise money for children’s charities. It was also displayed in the Museum of Style in Newbridge, County Kildare during the 2017 exhibition Diana: A Fashion Legacy, being termed “the most important exhibit”.
Coming back to Jennifer, what do you think of her take on revenge dressing?
