Britney Spears Admits Her And Justin Timberlake's Matching Denim Looks Were 'Tacky' But 'Also Pretty Great'

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | October 24, 2023 |

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | October 24, 2023 |

Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me, has finally been released. Today, the Internet is filled with fresh Britney revelations, most of which are pretty depressing: her dad forced her into rehab in 2014 cuz she was taking “energy supplements,” she “absolutely hated” being a judge on The X Factor, she had a panic attack before that disastrous 2007 MTV Video Music Awards performance, etc.

Yes, Britney’s life has been full of pain and struggle. But, surely, our girl has some happy memories from her time as a young, hot pop princess in the early 2000s? Actually, yes. See, Exhibit A:

Ahhh, Britney and Justin Timberlake in matching denim. In The Woman in Me, 41-year-old Britney has nothing but positive things to say about her and JT’s now-legendary Y2K red carpet appearance:

“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.”

Britney writes that the denim look was totally her idea: “I said, ‘We should match! Let’s do denim-on-denim!’” At first, Brit admits she “thought it was a joke” and didn’t expect her stylist or Justin to be into it. But, to her surprise, “they both went all in!”

According to a 2020 investigative report from Jezebel, Justin worked with designer Steven Gerstein and Levi’s to create his distressed Canadian tuxedo and matching cowboy hat. Britney writes that when JT first put the outfit on, she thought, “Whoa! I guess we’re really doing this!” She continues:

“Justin and I were always going to events together. 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.”

Britney writes that “she gets” that the matching denim was “tacky,” but “it was also pretty great in its way.” She adds that she’s “always happy” to see it parodied by couples on Halloween. And she totally agrees with Justin’s 2020 comments about the ensemble:

“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.”

As we all know, Britney’s relationship with Justin ended in misery. And he spent years slut-shaming her in the press. Hell, their matching denim moment was just a few weeks after Britney got an abortion she didn’t want. But it sounds like the two did have some good times. And if the double denim look still gives Britney joy, then we, as a society, should continue to celebrate its place in fashion history.