Great Outfits in Fashion History: Beyoncé in a Lace-Up Versace Dress

Fun fact: Christina Aguilera also wore this dress in the brand's ad campaign!

There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In 'Great Outfits in Fashion History,' Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks.

If you were a celebrity in the late '90s and early aughts looking to make a statement on the red carpet, no events quite fit the bill like MTV's VMAs and Movie Awards. In the era before stylists took control of every public appearance with an iron fist, these were places for the young and famous to flex their fashion muscles — sometimes to great effect and sometimes, well... less so.

Naturally, Beyoncé could only ever belong in that first category, being the kind of celebrity who could make a paper bag look like couture. Luckily, the Versace dress she wore to the 2003 MTV Movie Awards was already a great start: It's a green, lace-up number that was look 36 in the brand's Fall 2003 fashion show. (Fun fact: Christina Aguilera wore this same dress in Versace's Fall 2003 ad campaign!) It is unquestionably Of Its Time, with the corset detailing and the asymmetrical handkerchief skirt, but that's what makes it so fun.

She finishes the look with strappy sandals, an attention-grabbing necklace and a smoky eye. The latter might be the only element we're trying to carry into 2021 (even if the necklace does look like it belongs in Giovanna Engelbert's debut collection at Swarovski!), so we're shopping for all-in-one palettes that make creating that look as easy as possible.

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