Let’s go, girls!
Kelsea Ballerini paid stylish tribute to fellow country-pop superstar Shania Twain at Wednesday’s 2022 ACM Honors, gracing the red carpet in the iconic white Marc Bouwer dress the “Any Man of Mine” hitmaker wore to the 1999 Grammys.
“I am so blown away,” Twain, 56, told ET of seeing her gown get a second life.
“She looks stunning. She looks like an absolute angel. It’s very flattering to see her in the dress, and that she even wanted to wear it. I said, ‘I hope it’s not too dusty after being in the [Grammy Museum].’”
Ahead of the ACM Honors, where Twain was honored with the Poet’s Award, 28-year-old Ballerini teased her look for the evening with a photo of the gown on display.
“Sisterhood of the traveling dress… guess where @shaniatwain’s #GRAMMYs dress is off to next,” she wrote.
Twain wore the sequined, long-sleeved turtleneck style the night she performed her hit song “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” and won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “You’re Still the One.”
“It was an incredible night for me at the Grammys. That dress represented that experience, so I’m just happy to see it alive again,” Twain told ET. “Now it has a new life, and it has new memories, and it’s really great to be able to share that with other people, with another women. Obviously it’s a huge compliment to be admired enough that someone would want to step into my dress.”
Much like the Marilyn Monroe gown Kim Kardashian borrowed for the 2022 Met Gala, Twain’s look couldn’t be altered for the evening.
“It’s only allowed to leave the museum for 48 hours, so I tried it on yesterday. I had [a] back-up just in case,” said Ballerini, who’s taller than Twain and wore low-heeled shoes to make the look work.
“It’s Shania’s night! When I was asked to be a part of it, to honor her, we were just thinking about every possible way that we can highlight every stage of her career. One of the things that I think she’s an icon because of is her fashion, and the way she’s always pushing boundaries. I wanted to honor that part of her too.”
Added the “Peter Pan” singer, “To be able to honor her is one thing, but to be able to honor her and have her blessing … It’s like, ‘I like what you’re doing enough to let you wear my dress that I won my Grammys in.’”
Ballerini’s sartorial salute to Twain didn’t stop at one look; she also opened the ceremony by performing “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” wearing a replica of the top hat, tailcoat and tie ensemble the Canadian icon wore in her music video for the hit tune — even stripping down to a strapless black mini, opera gloves and tall boots by the end, just like Twain.
That does impress us much.
