Lifetime’s recently aired biopic is based on American pop icon, Britney Spears. The unauthorized TV film, titled Britney Ever After, debuted on February 18, and stars Australian actress Natasha Bennett as the titular Britney (despite RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Derrick Barry being the more obvious choice).
Britney Ever After chronicled Spears’ rise, fall, and road back to success, including all the dramz behind her highly-publicized 2007 breakdown, after which Spears was placed under her father’s conservatorship.
In honor of this magnanimous movie event, let’s take brief look at the pop singer’s most iconic looks: from schoolgirl uniforms to live pythons, we chronicle every time Brit-Brit made us say, Girl, can I borrow that?
When she became a Mouseketeer
11-year-old Britney Jean Spears got her start as a cast member in the 1990s revival of The Mickey Mouse Club, which also starred future celebrities Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling. There’s Brit-Brit wearing a ruffled white blouse and denim on denim, a trend she will stick with over the years.
When her loneliness was killing her
When she did it again at the VMAs
Brit-Brit’s second VMA performance in 2000 is where critics say she officially shed her “nice girl” image, replete with a flesh-colored bedazzled outfit and all the gyrating, stage-humping dance moves that made her the Qween of the VMA performance.
When she and Justin Timberlake were #RelationshipGoals
Who could forget this shining moment from the 2001 American Music Awards? Sadly, a year later, the pop music power couple split amidst rumors of cheating. Justin and Britney may be no longer, but we will always have this matching Canadian tuxedo.
When she used a live albino python as a prop
In what is arguably her most iconic performance ever, Brit-Brit performed “I’m a Slave 4 U” with a python at the 2001 VMAs. It’s something Spears has said she would never repeat, on account of how “insane and dumb” it was.
When she got down with Madge and X-Tina at the VMAs
In 2003, Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera sparked controversy when the three kissed on stage while performing “Like a Virgin”. Spears and Aguilera wore wedding dresses reminiscent to the one Madge wore for the “Like a Virgin” music video (and her equally controversial VMA performance in the 80s), while the latter was dressed all groom-like, popping out of a giant wedding cake. It’s a metaphor! For feminism. Or something.