Geri Halliwell-Horner revealed the real story behind her iconic Union Jack dress on this morning’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show.
The famous dress was first worn by Halliwell-Horner for the Spice Girls performance at the 1997 Brit Awards, and the singer mentioned that she found inspiration in America’s patriotism when creating the outfit.
She explained to host Drew Barrymore, “There’s a flag, OK? That, for me, was taught by America. You guys taught me about being proud, about being patriotic about your country.”
Despite advice from her stylist at the time to be more modest, Halliwell-Horner wanted to celebrate her British identity and insisted on wearing the striking dress for the occasion.
What shocked Barrymore the most, however, was that Halliwell-Horner sewed the dress herself using a dish towel as the Union Jack.
“The dress is actually a black Gucci stretchy dress. It was gifted to me — this black, it was really corsetted, it was like an old swimming costume, like, a ’50s swimming costume,” she said. “And I stitched on a tea towel. That is a tea towel. You know what you dry dishes with? That’s that.”
Halliwell-Horner said she’s “not very good at stitching” but her sister was there to help her attach the towel to her dress — and they didn’t stop there.
“See those boots there? I was thinking, ‘Oh, I want to match,’” she said. “And I couldn’t find red boots. So I got car spray and sprayed the boots.”
The dress has since become synonymous with Halliwell-Horner, who wore different versions of the look for the 2007 Spice Girls reunion tour and the 2019 Spice World Tour. She even designed a clothing range featuring dresses, bikinis, and tops sporting the UK flag in 2012.
The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.
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