At the 2024 VMAs, everyone wanted to be Britney Spears

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Britney Spears hasn't released an album since 2016 famebut their presence was felt everywhere at the 40th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night.

From the red carpet to the stage, numerous young pop stars paid tribute to the Princess of Pop. Tate McRae – who Spears credits as a major influence and whose dance moves are often compared to hers – wore a sheer lace minidress reminiscent of Spears' famous Dolce & Gabbana dress from the 2001 ceremony. McRae even wore her hair in flowing waves, like Spears did two decades earlier.

Addison Rae, who often expresses her love for the pop icon, wore a white satin bra and panty set with a voluminous tutu by designer Claire Sullivan, reminiscent of the wedding dress Spears wore onstage at the VMAs with Madonna and Christina Aguilera during her infamous 2003 performance (which, of course, also alluded to Madonna's 1984 VMA debut). Her take on a Spears look was the least literal, which felt smart at a time when there's so much reference fatigue in celebrity fashion.

But the odes to Spears didn't end there. Sabrina Carpenter began a performance of her summer hits by sitting on a glittery ceiling swing reminiscent of Spears' “Lucky” music video. She also incorporated a snippet of the famous monologue from Spears' “Oops! … I Did It Again” into her show and danced with an army of submissive astronauts who resembled those in the song's video.

Even the evening's host, Megan Thee Stallion, put on her best performance, appearing in a replica of the “I'm a Slave 4 U” costume from Spears' 2001 VMAs performance, one of the most memorable of her entire career.

Now, it's possible that guests felt especially inspired to mention their favorite pop stars because of the event's 40th anniversary. But it still says something that Spears seemed to have more influence on the younger generation's fashion choices than anyone else last night. At the height of her career, Britney often found herself on worst-dressed lists, criticized for looking too revealing, too hot, or even too Latin. But the outfits she wore then — the printed T-shirts, the lingerie-inspired minidresses, the sparkly stilettos — are now considered vintage perfection, not just because she wore them, but because they changed our idea of ​​pop star style.

Her looks have become synonymous with the VMAs over the years, perhaps because it was the only awards show where she got the respect she deserved. She only attended the Grammy Awards a few times and won just one during her entire career (in 2005 for Best Dance Recording for “Toxic”). But the VMAs? That was Spears' domainAnd her appearance over the years influenced the next generation, who grew up with a love of experimentation and a refusal to take dressing too seriously.

Sometimes the greatest creative forces are people who never tried to be influential and still don't let that bother them. After the new pop girls posed on the VMAs carpet last night and openly displayed their love for Britney, the star posted a video on Instagram. As she often does, she danced alone in her living room in a glittery minidress. She didn't have to be at the party; it was as if she was already there.

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