While Jennifer Lopez was able to stick to the script while discussing her life in looks with Vogue, deftly recalling her personal fashion timeline in chronological order, we’re compelled to fast forward a bit and start with the dress. You know the one: Green; Versace; Plunging to a depth no dress had ever plunged before; So sensational that all the internet searches for it birthed Google Images. “It was a dress that other people had worn already,” Lopez tells Vogue, adding that her stylist at the time, Andrea Lieberman, begged her not to wear it; Donatella Versace and Geri Halliwell-Horner were photographed in it just a few months prior. Jenny from the Block’s response to the plea? “Well you bought it and it looks the best, so I’m going to wear it. And So I did. And it caused, you know, quite a stir.”
Prior to that era-defining moment, Lopez was introduced to the world as a Fly Girl on In Living Color, clad in leopard print, combat boots, and lots of black spandex. In 1997 the multi-hyphenate entertainer would go on to star in Selena, wearing various recreations of the late singer’s on-stage looks—among them a strappy bejeweled bralette and matching leggings in red, black and white.
As much as Lopez enjoys poring over racks with stylists—“I worked with Andrea Liberman for many years and then I’ve worked with Rob and Mariel up until the present,” she says—the star has been known to go rogue. Such was the case at the 2000 MTV VMAs, where, despite having a gown picked out, Lopez hit the red carpet in low-rise white jeans, a cropped tank top, and a beadazzled bandana. (Again, it was 2000.) “This is a favorite Halloween costume of a lot of people,” she says of the look.
Though it’s common for the star to be spotted in baggy jeans and Timberlands one day, then wearing Valentino Haute Couture for the cover of Vogue the next, a few aspects of her style remain consistent. “I like baby hairs and big hoops and gold jewelry,” The JLo Beauty founder says—all nods to her Puerto Rican heritage and Bronx upbringing. Those roots were top of mind when she performed at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration of Joe Biden, dressed in a sweeping white Chanel tweed coat and matching wide-leg trousers. “We went for a very kind of classic, beautiful look,” she says. “I was very happy to be Latina and representing Latinos in that moment, especially after what we had been through during the last administration.”