The Union Jack dress is an item of clothing worn by singer

Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Horner (née Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, author, and actress. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls. With over 100 million records ...

of the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

at the

1997 Brit Awards Brit Awards 1997 was the 17th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 24 February 1997 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in Lon ...

. The

mini dress A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

featured a

flag of the United Kingdom The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801 which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...

, the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

, on the front, and a white CND symbol emblazoned on the black-coloured back of the dress. The next day the images of the dress made the front page of various newspapers around the world, and is now remembered as one of the most iconic pop moments of the 1990s and

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

history. The dress has become synonymous with the Spice Girls, Halliwell and the notions of

Girl Power Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called ''Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power'' in 1 ...

, and

Cool Britannia Cool Britannia was a name for the period of increased pride in the culture of the United Kingdom throughout the mid and second half of the 1990s, inspired by Swinging London from 1960s pop culture. This loosely coincided with John Major's conse ...

. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', the dress came top in a 2010 online poll to find the 10 most iconic dresses of the past 50 years, beating other memorable garments such as Marilyn Monroe's white 'Seven Year Itch' halterneck. In 2016, the dress was voted the "Most Inspiring British Fashion Moment" in an online poll conducted by British online retailer Very. At the

2010 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2010 was the 30th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at Earls Court in London for the last time. The ceremony was broadcast live on ITV on Tuesday 16 February 2010. It was ...

, the Spice Girls performance that featured the Union Jack dress won Most Memorable Performance of 30 Years. The dress held the ''

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' for the most expensive piece of popstar clothing sold at an auction.

Background and history

The Spice Girls were scheduled to open the

, where they were also nominated for five awards. The black

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minidress A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...

that Halliwell was given to perform in concerned her as she thought it was too "boring". Halliwell decided she wanted to "celebrate being British" and asked her sister, Natalie, to stitch a Union Jack tea towel onto the front of the black dress as a patriotic gesture. To avoid being associated with the National Front, Halliwell also had the CND peace symbol stitched onto the back of the dress. Halliwell wore the finished dress whilst performing a medley of "

Wannabe "Wannabe" is the debut single by English girl group the Spice Girls. Written and composed by the group members in collaboration with Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produ ...

" and "

Who Do You Think You Are Who Do You Think You Are may refer to: Television series * ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (British TV series), a genealogy documentary with many adaptations: ** ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (American TV series) ** ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' ...

" at the Brit Awards on 24 February 1997. The group also won two awards that evening.

Sale

In 1998, a year after Halliwell performed in the dress, she auctioned it off at the London branch of

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

for £41,320. The buyer was Peter Morton, on behalf of the

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, who displayed the piece of clothing as pop memorabilia. Morton bid via telephone, and beat other bidders such as '' The Sun''. Halliwell herself watched the "frenzied bid", and rapped the

gavel A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the ...

after the final bid. The dress was originally valued at £12,000, but the winning bid was £36,200 (£41,320 including 15% commission). Halliwell gave the proceeds of the dress sale to a children's cancer care charity. The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background and history

Sale

2007 remake

2012 clothing range

2019 version

Gallery

See also

References