Ben Affleck took his kids to Westfield Mall in Century City on Monday, which is where he was seen & photographed browsing engagement rings at Tiffany’s. As it turned out, Ben and his kids were just doing a scavenger hunt, but maybe that trip to a mall was exciting for Ben, and it reminded him of old times. On Tuesday, Ben took Jennifer Lopez to the same mall, Westfield Mall, and the paparazzi documented it, of course.
Personally, I love J.Lo’s shopping outfit. That skirt is so cute and it reminds me of Roland Mouret circa-2005. Everything about this relationship already feels retro and throwback, and you can really see J.Lo leaning into that early-aughts and mid-aughts fashion. Which, to be fair, is mostly her style anyway. She truly got all dressed up like this to go to the mall with her boyfriend. Did they eat at the Food Court? Did they browse at Victoria’s Secret? Did they check out the engagement rings at Tiffany’s? Well, according to Us Weekly, Ben and J.Lo really are talking about marriage:
Ready to put another ring on it! As Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez‘s whirlwind romance continues to get more serious, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly that the couple are “seriously talking about getting married.”
“They are both madly in love and don’t want to let one another go this time,” the insider explains to Us, noting that the Argo producer, 49, considers the Hustlers actress, 52, the “one that got away” and he is “determined to make sure that doesn’t happen this time.”
This time around, the insider notes that Affleck and Lopez are “considering eloping,” instead of having a “big lavish wedding.”
For the New York native, her boyfriend has “matured into the man of her dreams” and she would definitely say yes when the right time comes, the source adds.
I think that if they get married and it’s what they both want, they probably would do a small ceremony with just their kids, at a resort or something. It wouldn’t really be an elopement because, duh, their kids would want to be involved. I don’t think they would do a star-studded, lavish wedding – it’s not Ben’s style and Jen would simply want to get him down the aisle this time around. But yeah. Party like it’s 2003. Trips to the mall included.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I love this outfit so much. I would wear this except for the shoes, which I also love but they’re too high for me.
Kaiser, was it you who once said JLo always dresses like a whorehouse accountant but not in a bad way? This outfit is Exhibit A.
But a mall date … count me out.
I’d have put a black bra on.
Yeah, that looks weird. She was probably pissed when she saw those pics, lol.
@ Cat C
JL has on s black corset or shapewear, instead of a black bra. Her sleeveless mock turtleneck is very sheer. If you notice, you cannot see any bra straps.
Maybe she is supporting Kim K.’s Skims Line..
I can’t imagine wearing those shoes to go shopping. My feet would hurt but I guess celebs don’t shop like us regular folk.
honest question: do people still go to the mall?
i just haven’t been in so long
More important question is why would a mega celebrity go to the mall,surely you cant get anything fun or productive done.
@ Noki : Why would a mega celebrity like J.Lo go to the mall? A mega-celebrity like her would go to the mall as per their agent’s instructions in order to make sure the paparazzi they hired got a good shot of them being “together and in love”. That’s my guess.
That’s called dating.
Yes, I do. Not often. But sometimes I still enjoy going to browse and also, actually trying stuff on rather than guessing how something will look from online.
I drove by the mall Saturday and people were going in droves, which seriously surprised me.
They recently put a mini casino in our mall.
There are 750 slot machines, 30 table games
The casino has 2 floors. Guy Fieri American Kitchen + Bar & multiple restaurants & bars, a 4 lane bowling alley, skeeball, golf simulator,darts, hoops, ping- pong tables & shuffleboard. This has really revamped the mall & people love going to the mall again!
Yes. I love the mall. Plus, I go there to walk when it’s too cold or too hot to walk outside. I am going to miss the mall when they are no more.
I hate our mall. The center walkways are full of kiosks with obnoxious people hawking crap like fake ponytails and glittery cell phone covers and perfume brands you never heard of. They accost shoppers and block the walkway and are so rude when you are not interested. I’ve literally had one call me a b**** when I didn’t respond to them and walked on by.
My husband likes to get his glasses at Lenscrafters so we need to go to the mall for that. He’s also ordering some pants online and if they don’t fit we can return them at the mall but those are the only times we go.
I used to take my kids pre-pandemic. We live in MN, and in the winter it was nice to have a place to go indoors and walk around or play in a play area and then have lunch. That’s been one of the hardest things about lockdown, not being able to use those as an escape from the house.
Also, I have never been a fan of Ben’s or found him particularly attractive, but this is the best I think he’s looked in years. The JLo glow-up is legit.
I dont believe he will get married again,Ben in retrospect probably only got married to Jennifer Gardner (who is a homely stable woman) so she could bear all his kids. He is never in any relationship for the long haul and this will be the same.
Ben married Gardner because she was pregnant.
I could see Ben and jlo getting married though, they are full into the honeymoon phase right now
I wish people would retire that old trope. No one has to get married anymore, not since the early 1960s, and certainly not in Hollywood circa 2005. He married her because he wanted to and he also wanted children, he said as much. As far as marriage, I don’t see them doing it just because tabloids are saying it. US Weekly also said Jennifer garner was getting married three years ago and so far?
@Lena: well she was pregnant when they got married. I remember very well because I was an Alias superfan back in the day and her pregnancy with Violet seriously impacted the last season of Alias. They had barely been together six months when she got pregnant (they got together in August 2004 and were married end of June 2005. Violet was born beginning of December 2005). They included the pregnancy in the storyline and it was just really terrible. She and Ben Affleck eloped to the Turks and Caicos, the only person who was there was her costar Victor Garber who played her father on Alias and who officiated the wedding.
I was surprised they lasted as long as they did because Garner got knocked up so fast in their relationship which always led me to believe Violet was an oopsie baby. I always blamed Ben Affleck for ruining the last season of Alias lol.
Homely?
I think Jen Gardner is gorgeous. That dimple, those lips. Time goes by and she leans more into being a mom but she still is a beautiful woman.
Yeah, I was also going to ask does “homely” have a different connotation in other countries? In the US, it was always the nicer way to say ugly or very very plain. But I wonder if it has more of a “girl next door”/homey (as in, someone who is comfortable being comfy at home) type definition in other places.
her first husband seemed like the real keeper, at least I loved him as Noel lol
I think in Britain the word homely can mean homey.
I dont believe he will get married again,Ben in retrospect probably only got married to Jennifer Gardner (who is a homely stable woman) so she could bear all his kids. He is never in any relationship for the long haul and this will be the same.
It’s Garner, not Gardner. They got married when she got pregnant and to say he only married her so she could “bear all his kids” sounds like something out of the idiotic and misogynistic Paul Anka song…”Havin’ My Baby”. She didn’t “bear all his kids”, they had a family together.
Yeesh…
Garner got pregnant, that’s why Ben married her, not because Ben married her so she could have his babies.
When Ben proposed to JLo back in 2002, he admitted that he wanted JLo to have his baby.
Please, Ben spent Christmas with her family in West Virginia before she got pregnant. He was clearly heading towards marrying her anyways.
I would love to know where the skirt is from – seriously if anyone knows………….
Love her outfit, the heels hurt my feet just looking at them. You go JLo.
The skirt is from Tom Ford, I love it too but my wallet is saying “no”
I am sure you can get a replica from Zara.
Thank you, and yes way out of my price range too.
and the circus continues…
@VS
Aint this the truth……
I only feel sorry for the children.
I love JLo’s outfit and she has the best bags. As for the wedding, I think it will happen but not for sometime and it will be small very private. You know a couple is deeply in love when they’re coordinating outfits.
They make quite a stunning couple, especially when Ben makes a little bit of effort.
He hasn’t looked this good in ages. Hope he stays sober, however this relationship ends up.
An addicti is never cured so i wonder if jlo would stick around through another stint in rehab sometime again in his life?
I’m from the NJ, the mall mecca. My old apartment was a stone’s throw away from one, and I went all the time. I love the mall. It really is a comforting nostalgic thing for me I think. Now I don’t live close enough to one and with Covid, no thanks anyway, but I miss the mall. ::sigh::
I live in Edmonton. Close to West Edmonton Mall. Most Edmontonians say they hate The Mall, like it’s tacky, always been a tourist trap… Not me. I love WEM (that’s how we refer to The Mall). I used to know every inch of it, maybe not as much lately, the stores have changed up over the years, but it’s a great mall. I have gone maybe 3 times since Jan. 2020. And even now I avoid, too many people, and our mask mandate has been lifted. As a local, you know the best entrances and exits, the best parking, you know how to get in and out fast and efficiently, or you love to go for the day, take it all in, browse, snack, even indulge in the touristy things when you want to splurge. This post suddenly made me a little sad. It might still be another year before I can enjoy such a “normal” thing as hanging out at the mall.
But I will say that this pandemic mindset has saved us a ton of money. I don’t online shop, I spend in store, so my indulgences have dropped to almost nothing!
I love that were talking about going to the mall. I miss it so much!
I agree, I miss a day out and just browsing. I used to travel globally a lot for work and in between the out of town hotels and corporate offices often the best place to get away for a bit was a local mall. Plus by being the outsider I often had no frame of reference (or preconceptions) for the different stores. Sometimes it meant a ‘yikes’ when you go in and see the price tag other times I found some fantastic stuff. Plus I loved having a wardrobe that was about half stuff I’d bought overseas.
Or there was one short trip to Miami which was back to back work apart from one evening when I took a cab to the local mall and absolutely raided all my favourites as I knew I wouldn’t be back in the states anytime soon. Sigh, I miss that!
This is like a Barbie and Ken go to… where Barbie is dressed to the nines and Ken just needs to be fit in a shirt lol. What a strange existence, these pap strolls. They truly live beyond the mirror.
They both look great in their outfits. I love Jen’s outfit, and wish I could even walk in heels that high without destroying my feet.
I am also with everyone on, Ben and J.Lo at the mall? I know some malls have luxury wings, but…can you imagine being 17 and working at like, a Baskin Robbins and J.Lo shows up for Rum Raisin while Ben complains about the lack of mall Dunkin’ Donuts.
Also, I’m placing bets on small destination wedding with the kids. I think they’re in it for the long run, however long that run is. Lots of people talking about the speed of this, but they’ve known one another for 20 years, been engaged before, have kept somewhat in touch over that time, and are in their 50s or nearing it. At that age, they’re probably thinking, “What am I waiting for?” Since they’re really embracing the early aughts, I mean, YOLO, right?
This looks and feels so good and happy, maybe they are making decisions (especially after the pandemic) that will lead to happily ever after together.
To be fair to JLo, while I fully believe she WOULD happily dress up like that just to go to a mall (I’ve seen pictures of her boarding or leaving a flight with her kids in heels that were truly sky high and looking more dressy than I manage for some actual occasions!) there were also pictures of her going to a business meeting on the same day, in the same outfit. I don’t know which came first, but I’m inclined to think the outfit was more for that than this.
LOL, so was the scavenger hunt staged so paps would stake out the mall for glimpses of Ben and JLo? Because those paps are front and center, the couple is walking straight towards the camera. Obvious PR is obvious I guess lol.
I do love JLo’s outfit, I thought in the first picture she was wearing flats and I thought “oh cute” and then I realized she is in stilettos and I thought, nope, not for me, lol (even if they were in my price range.)
As an aside, I find this narrative of “the one who got away” and “he’s not going to let her go this time” (I’m sort of assuming that’s coming from Jennifer’s camp but could be Ben’s) to be mildly insulting towards Jennifer Gardner. I know that she and Ben divorced and both have moved on and it seems they’re on good terms now, co-parent well, etc – but I would still be hurt if I married someone, had three children with him, thought we were really in love, and then after the divorce etc he ends back with his very glamorous ex and the press is all about how he really missed her and can’t let her get away this time because he regrets losing her the first time around – it would make me feel like our marriage and children was just a substitute for the ex, IDK. I feel like it would be better just to go with “they’ve both grown and changed and are at a good place in their lives for this rekindled relationship” or something would be a lot better than “Ben is determined not to let her go THIS time…” (with the unspoken part being that he has always regretted letting her go the first time.)
I know I’m reading too much into it but it still popped into my head.
Interestingly HE has never said that it’s just Her PR (hi Benny!) which has gone into overdrive. Every time I thought maybe they were gong to chill with the daily updates they start up again. And by the way, this visit to the mall was a total pap set up you can tell by the video of it on Daily Mail. It’s hilarious to see what they are gong to stunt next just like last year with Ana de Armas (who everyone said he was going to live with/marry as well). I’m entertained but not taking it seriously.
I kind of think both things are true. He really loved Garner and he has some regrets over the ending of his relationship with JLo. People in polyamorous relationship probably can attest that you can have great love for more than one person. I don’t think there’s any reason for Garner to feel bad. She was in love, she got married, she had kids. She had a whole life with Ben and then over a decade later, the marriage didn’t work out (side-eyeing Ben). Ben didn’t get with JLo immediately after their divorce so them reuniting years later doesn’t take away one thing from the life Garner had with him. I actually really like both Jennifers and think they are both too good for him.
Like the look of the skirt from the front but not the sides. ( it looks like a wardrobe function waiting to happen.) Otherwise, a great outfit!
I think the Fall & Winter months will be a test for this relationship, as they both will be deeply involved in work projects & long distance between them. I do not see them getting engaged right now. I think Ben likes this relationship like it is for now. Ben had said he didn’t want the 1st divorce “because that was not who he thought he was and that was so painful & disappointing” I don’t think he wants to rush into getting married again. I think that ( I hope) Ben & JL are trying a different approach to their relationship & are not going to be pressured by the media or the public to get married. ..
I’ll believe that this will be okay if they just make an announcement that they were married privately instead of buying a huge ring and then having an extravaganza circus of a wedding. Complete with white gown and 20ft train.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Sometimes, I think only royals can pull it off with a 20 ft train gown. See Diana, Kate, and Meghan.
I SO WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!
I remember going to the mall was an event back in the day. There were two malls about 20 minutes away from where I grew up I went to regularly in middle and high school. However, as I get older, the idea of spending time indoors in a complex full of stores makes me nauseous and not just because of COVID (though that doesn’t help). I don’t mind going to the outlets (you can find deals!) or walking down the main street of a town with stores but I was never a big shopper to begin with. And now as an adult with very picky taste, I enjoy it less and prefer online browsing.
An an aside, anyone familiar with the Palisades Mall in Nyack in NY? I only went there a few times growing up but that place is/was so HUGE. You would get a workout while you shopped because the place was so big!
Ben looks really good these days. What did Jlo do to him lol
And can she give me that same makeup over, since quarantine I’ve been in a slump
I live around the corner from that mall. I am surprised there weren’t helicopters out yesterday.
*rolls eyes*
I really, REALLY want this to happen! Why? I don’t even know! I was in my early 20s during Ben-Lo #1 (yeah, I said Ben-Lo LOL) and this duo is making me feel young again. Also, I am so in love with her outfit right here. I don’t do high-heels like that, but everything else, from top to bottom, I want in my closet right now LOL
Does his movie come out first or is it hers?
His comes out on October 15, 2021, and hers is June 29, 2022. Maybe she’s releasing music or something sooner? Who knows. His technically premieres even before 10/15 at the Venice Film Festival on the 10th of September.
I am loving them together! This is the best I’ve seen Ben look in years! I’m sure they will get married soon. Jennifer is a serial monogamist so I don’t see them just dating for long.
I’m getting spasms in my arches just looking at her mile high stilettos but damn! Jennifer looks great from top to bottom here.
They both seem quite happy. Bless.
I love the outfit but the heels look too narrow for her. The right foot is spilling out and I’m sure it hurt later.
I used to think malls were dead but after I bought my first car due to covid at the beginning of the year, I’ve found myself going to them more and more and I actually quite enjoy it, I like the outlet ones, we have the big San Francisco outlets (an hour from SF 😒) and I went there recently and it was PACKED! I love having a car 😊