Let’s go girls!
Kelsea Ballerini paid a stylish tribute to fellow country pop superstar Shania Twain at Wednesday’s ACM Honors 2022, graced the red carpet in the iconic white Marc Bouwer gown worn by the hitmaker “Any Man of Mine” at the 1999 Grammys.
“I’m so blown away,” Twain, 56, told ET that she saw her dress get a second life.
“She looks gorgeous. 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 I’ve been 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 dress on display.
“Sisterhood of the travel dress… guess where @shaniatwain’s #GRAMMYs dress is going,” she wrote.
Twain wore the sequined long-sleeved turtleneck sweater the night she hit her ‘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 woman, it’s obviously a huge compliment to be admired so much that someone would want to step into my dress.”
Like the Marilyn Monroe dress Kim Kardashian borrowed for the 2022 Met Gala, Twain’s look couldn’t be changed for the evening.
“Only 48 hours are allowed to leave the museum, so I tried it out yesterday. I had [a] backup just in case,” said Ballerini, who is taller than Twain and wore low-heeled shoes to make the look work.
‘It’s Shania’s evening! When I was asked to be a part of it, to honor her, we just thought of every possible way we could highlight each stage of her career. One of the things that I think makes her an icon is her fashion and the way she’s always pushing boundaries. I also wanted to honor that part of her.”
The singer “Peter Pan” added: “Being able to honor her is one thing, but to be able to honor her and have her blessing… I’ve won my Grammys.’”
Ballerini’s sartorial salute to Twain did not stop at one glance; she also opened the ceremony by performing “Man! I feel like a woman!” wearing a replica of the top hat, skirt and tie the Canadian icon wore in her music video for the hit — even stripped down to a strapless black mini, opera gloves and high boots at the end, just like Twain.
That is doing impressed us a lot.