19 Years Later, Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” Music Video Is Still a Fashion Classic

Liana Satenstein
Updated

19 Years Later, Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love” Music Video is Still a Fashion Classic

<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios</cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios</cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios</cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios</cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios
<cite class="credit">Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios</cite>
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Music Studios

Just last night, Jennifer Lopez Instagrammed a video of her first hit “If You Had My Love” from her debut album On the Six in celebration of the show World of Dance, on which she is a judge. Lopez captioned the clip with: “If You Had My Love went #1 here is my first dance break from my first video of my first song ever.” Even her beau Alex Rodriguez was a fan of the song, and commented, “GOAT.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj8n9iSgqr8/

And how could he not be? Nineteen years on, the video is still red-hot, both song-wise and stylistically. 1999 was a year that infused sleek minimalism with bursts of early-aughts flash, and, of course, a hint of Web 1.0. In the clip, a range of characters, from a little girl to sweaty car mechanics to a gaggle of women, are all transfixed by Lopez via a lo-fi livestream. One priceless cameo? A young Adam Rodriguez, perv-tastic with his voyeuristic clicks, sandals, and goatee that he can’t seem to stop stroking.

According to Lopez’s stylist at the time, Andrea Lieberman—who went on to create the label A.L.C. and was also responsible for the entertainer’s iconic Versace dress at the 2000 Grammys—the video was about solidifying a place in the music industry for Lopez, who was best known as an actress. “At the time, it was just an important video for us to establish her and to start establishing her style as an artist,” Lieberman says. “It was about trying to define different aspects of the elements that would make her back then and today so unique. She is not one person, and she has depth and richness.”

This versatility can be seen throughout the video in a number of looks. In the beginning, Lopez greets the camera in mostly sleek optic-white getups, including a Chrome Hearts leather bikini top paired with blue-tint aviator shades. And another standout moment is when Lopez shows off her “Jenny From the Block” side by suddenly break-dancing to Latin music. (Listen closely and you’ll hear someone shout, “Papi!”) For that scene, Lopez shifts into a relaxed look comprised of blue cargo pants and a pair of sneakers, before switching again to a slinky silver dress. “The shoes are AirMax!” says Lieberman of the look. “I think the cargos were Ralph Lauren and the dress was Versace.” And of course, one classically Lopez element appears throughout the whole music video, and even on the star today: her signature hoops.

See the videos.