After J-Lo at the 2000s Grammies, there was Jennifer Gardner in 13 Going On 30. After 13 Going On 30, there was Kiera Knightley in Atonement. The rules of pop culture seem clear; every few years, a woman must wear an iconic It Dress that the whole internet obsesses over (and for some reason, it’s usually green).
Jennifer Gardner, who wore the famed green dress in 13 Going On 30, knows this. Discussing the 2004 film, in which unpopular teen Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen)’s wish to become an adult overnight is granted, Jennifer says she “cannot believe how often this dress keeps coming up.”
The colourful green and rainbow-striped gown, which Jenna Rink’s 30-year-old alter-ego wears when attending a work do, is short, with a peephole dip under its lime bust. Jenna’s adult self is a magazine editor, which may explain how she got her manicured hands on the 2003 Versace Spring show dress.
The dress went viral after Christa B. Allen, who played the younger Jenna in the film, recreated the look on TikTok ― now, dupes abound. “Every Halloween, there are more Jenna Rinks, not fewer,” Jennifer Gardner revealed in a recent Glamour interview.
As if the gown wasn’t decked out in enough pop culture cred, though, the Juno actor went on to point out a “crazy fact” that linked it to Sex and The City.
How?
“This dress ― I didn’t keep it [after filming 13 Going On 30],” Jennifer shared. “It just went into a warehouse. Nobody knew it was gonna be a big deal, and if you watch old Sex and the City episodes, you will see it show up on a background player kind of scooting into a theatre seat.”
The interview then cuts to a woman who is indeed scuffling between seats. “It just was, you know, a dress that was pulled out,” Jennifer revealed.
And then it ― who knows where it ended up? But sadly, I don’t have it,” she finished.
All I know is, I’m going to find out where these warehouses are kept...