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A tea towel, red power boots and the desire to make an impact: Here's the story behind Ginger Spice's iconic Brit Awards look

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Geri Halliwell (Photo: Getty Images)
Geri Halliwell (Photo: Getty Images)

When I was a kid, growing up in the 90s, there were few pop culture figures that loomed larger than Geri Halliwell.

She was the intersection of modern feminism, music and bold, sexy looks.

Now, so many decades later, Ginger Spice aka Geri, is looking back at one of her most iconic performances and revealing the incredible story of how she gave one of the most memorable moments of her early volcanic career for an exclusive video recorded by Vogue Magazine, before the coronavirus outbreak.

The moment happened in 1997 on the Brit Awards stage, when Geri wore a mini dress with the Union Jack on it. The Union Jack is the national flag of the United Kingdom. Since then the dress has become synonymous with the singer's time as a Spice Girl, and in this video interview, she explains how it all started with a little black dress by Gucci and the desire to make herself seen for her passion, on stage.

When she was given the dress before the event, it was "not really saying much", and given the British-focused event, Geri really wanted to incorporate the flag. However, she realised that cutting up flags might be frowned upon, so instead, she took a tea towel with the same flag design. She had her sister, who was a better seamstress, sew it on top of the dress.

The music legend said in the interview: "When that tea towel was stitched to that little Gucci dress, I had no idea the reaction that was going to come,"

She added: "That dress really became the identity of what girl power stood for."

It looked incredible as she had intended, but then the artist realised that wearing that during a performance might make the audience think she supported an extremist nationalist party, that was popular at the time, so she put a peace symbol on the back.

As fans will know her back was turned to the audience for part of the performance, so the message of who she was and what she stood for came through loud and clear at one of the most critical moments in the Spice Girls' career.

She wore the dress with huge boots that she spray-painted red, with a can she found in her father's garage. He was a mechanic.

In the chat, Geri also likens her split from The Spice Girls to a divorce.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH GERI HALLIWELL HERE:


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