Reese Witherspoon loans her 2014 Met Gala gown to Legally Blonde spin-off show star Lexi Minetree as she borrows the Elle Woods icon's red carpet dress for a second time

Lexi Minetree's premiere look was borrowed from Reese Witherspoon herself as she loaned the pink dress to attend the London screening of Elle this week.

The actress, who is playing a younger version of Reese's character Elle Woods in a new spin-off prequel, looked incredible in the strapless pink gown.

Reese, 50, wore the dress to the 2014 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when the theme was Charles James: Beyond Fashion.

Lexi was handpicked by to play Elle Woods in the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel Elle, which has already been .

The American star, 25, wore her hair curled in a chic up do, sporting a glamorous palette of make-up, including a touch of matching pink eye shadow.

Lexi was front and centre at the UK premiere held at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square.

It wasn't the first time Lexi has borrowed from Reese's wardrobe during the promotional tour for the show.

Appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, she wore the same  dress that Reese wore to the Legally Blonde premiere in 2001.

Jimmy made a fuss over the frock, too, which was borrowed with Reese's blessing from her organised and colour-coordinated closet, that serves as a personal museum for her career and designer wardrobe.

During the audition process, she said the casting people wanted '30 seconds of why you'll be a good Elle Woods.'

'And I remember seeing that and thinking, "I could say I'm blonde and I'm from the South too, but I know what I have to do. I have to recreate her Harvard admissions video,'' she told Jimmy.

'I don't know if anyone remembers, but in the movie, she basically applies to Harvard [and] instead of writing an essay, she puts on this sparkly pink bikini and she goes in the hot tub.

'And she goes, "Hi, I'm going to tell all of you at Harvard why I'm going to make an amazing Elle Woods." And I thought, "You know what? That's what I'm going to do.''

The new series, which releases on Prime Video on July 1, follows a teenage Elle Woods as she navigates Beverly Hills High School, fashion choices and challenges that help her to become the confident and empowered young woman that fans grew to love in the films.

The Atlanta, Georgia native shared that people have often told her she looks like Reese.

'It's actually spooky because even when I was a brunette, random people would come to me and say, 'You know who you look like? You look like Reese Witherspoon.' I was like thank you very much. That is a huge compliment,' Lexi said.

She also revealed that she watched Legally Blonde 150 times to prepare for the role.

Reese, for her part, said that watching Lexi step into her shoes has been 'one of the most gratifying experiences of my career.'

'Twenty-five years after the world met Elle Woods for the first time, it's a dream come true to share the story of how she became the unstoppable force we all fell in love with,' Reese said.

'Discovering Lexi Minetree and watching her step into Elle’s fabulous shoes has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my career.

'I think our series’ themes of kindness, authenticity, and believing in yourself will resonate deeply with fans of the original films and new audiences alike.

'Working with our incredible Hello Sunshine team, Amazon and our visionary writers and directors to bring Elle's high school journey to life has been a tremendous joy.’

She added: 'I can’t wait to share Season One with the world and start rolling cameras on Season Two!'