In the early 2000s, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake were true blue.
And the pop princess shared the story behind the former couple’s iconic denim-on-denim outfits from the 2001 American Music Awards in her new memoir, “The Woman in Me,” out now.
Spears and Timberlake, who dated from 1999 to 2002, turned quite a few heads when they stepped on the red carpet in matching looks, with the *NSYNC star, now 42, rocking a Canadian tuxedo (and even a denim hat) while the “Toxic” singer, now 41, sported a strapless Kurt and Bart denim evening gown with a coordinating purse.
“In the South, moms love to round up the kids and say, ‘Listen, we’re going to go to church today, and we’re all going to color-coordinate.’ That’s what I did when Justin and I attended the 2001 American Music Awards, which I cohosted with LL Cool J,” Spears writes in the bestselling book.
She goes on to share that their twinning moment was her idea, writing, “I still can’t believe that Justin was going to wear denim and I said, ‘We should match! Let’s do denim-on-denim!'”
The “Baby One More Time” singer admits she “thought it was a joke,” continuing, “I didn’t think my stylist was actually going to do it, and I never thought Justin was going to do it with me. But they both went all in.”
Timberlake — who, according to Jezebel, worked with designer Steven Gerstein and Levi’s on his full denim outfit — sported a light-wash blazer with jeans and a coordinating denim fedora for the event, with Spears writing, “When he put it on, I thought ‘Whoa! I guess we’re really doing this!'”
“Justin and I were always going to events together,” she continues in the book. “We had so much fun doing the Teen Choice Awards, and we often color-coordinated our outfits. But with the matching denim, we blew it up.”
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Indeed, the photo of Spears and Timberlake in their AMA looks remains one of the most memorable images of the early aughts, and the “Womanizer” singer isn’t mad about it.
“I get that it was tacky, but it was also pretty great in its way, and I am always happy to see it parodied as a Halloween costume,” she shares.
While the ‘fits are definitely the epitome of Y2K excess, the mom of two looks back on the moment fondly, writing, “I’ve heard Justin get flak for the look. On one podcast where they were teasing him about it, he said, ‘You do a lot of things when you’re young and in love.’ And that’s exactly right. We were giddy, and those outfits reflected that.”
While she defends their outfits in the book, Spears definitely goes harder on her ex-boyfriend in other sections of the buzzy memoir, revealing that he cheated on her during their relationship and that she had an abortion because Timberlake “wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.”
However, the “Sometimes” singer also admits she cheated on Timberlake with choreographer Wade Robson before they ultimately broke up in 2002; as Spears recalls, the “Rock Your Body” singer dumped her via a two-word text.
As for their denim looks, Spears’ dress sold at auction for $7,199 in 2013, per Jezebel, but the whereabouts of Timberlake’s suit remains a mystery for the pop ages.
