Scandalous dresses of the stars: the 10 most talked about looks in history
Dizzying slits, thousands of hand-sewn Swarovski crystals, transparencies: the most talked about fashion excesses of all time
They are the most scandalous, risky, transparent, diamond-studded, vertiginously low-cut, sexy, flesh, extreme and eccentric dresses in history: it is a real dive into transgression what you can do by entering the wardrobes of the stars, finding the most exclusive and excessive that have marked the most important red carpets in the world. From the banana skirt by Josephine Baker, worn in the early twentieth century to the flesh dress of Lady Gaga, passing through the very transparent long dress by Kate Moss: the most famous and talked about fashion "scandals" of all time.
The Banana Skirt, Josephine Baker's banana skirt
To go back to one of the first "scandals" that the fashionable chronicle recalls, we must go back almost a century, precisely to 1926 and in the spotlight there is Josephine Baker, the first to win the title of "Black Venus" well before the most current Naomi Campbell. Ebony eyes, a statuesque body that is hard to believe is real and a sacred charm that leads Ernest Hemingway to describe her as the most sensational woman anyone has ever seen. But returning to the "scandal", it is impossible not to mention Baker in the heart of the Folies Bergère in Paris for the show La Revue Nègre. The skirt made of only 16 rubber bananas - which went down in history as Banana Skirt - is an undisputed symbol of those years and one of the looks that made Baker immortal: shortly thereafter thousands of dolls inspired by the star would have been sold for all of Europe in his image and likeness.
Cher's naked dresses: Bob Mackie's transgression
Speaking of “scandalous” dresses, protagonists of pages and pages of editorials, one cannot fail to mention more than one look by Cher. Wanting to delve into the hypnotic world of the multifaceted artist and style icon born in 1946, we should of merit talk about the most scandalous looks that not only belong to her but that have become part of the very property at the basis of the history of fashion. It is hard and not a little, leafing through the photographs, to decide which was actually the most risky dress worn by Cher during her long career between one social event and another. For pure taste, it seems appropriate to mention that of 1974: the occasion was the Met Gala and Cher's naked dress received so much praise that it won the cover of TIME, a year later. “In those days Time reserved its covers for world leaders or for someone who invented something important, like the vaccine. Then there was Cher on the cover with that incredible piece of clothing and the newsstands sold out almost immediately, "Bob Mackie, the costume designer and designer behind the suit, told Vogue in 2017. A transparent long dress studded with beads with sleeves from which white feathers branch off, long black hair, an angelic and transgressive vision at the same time, which left very little to the imagination of the spectators. "He created a lot of confusion," always declared "Bob" Mackie.
Cher again: the transparent victory at the 1988 Oscars
In light of what is written a few lines above, Cher definitely deserves an encore in this journey into the world of fashion of excesses. The occasion, this time, is one of the most important, the 60th edition of the Oscars award ceremony: it is 1988 and with the role of her in Bewitched by the Moon, Cher raises the most precious figurine for the best actress category. . Behind the excess there is always the stylist Bob Mackie, baptized in Hollywood as the "sultan of sequins" and not without having merit. The long black dress of transparencies and sparkles worn by Cher attracted the attention of the media at an international level, remaining in history today as one of the most talked about and criticized dresses ever.
Rose Arianna McGowan, 1988: the provocative dress and fashion as a tool of denunciation
Same year but different occasion for Rose Arianna McGowan, American actress and singer who transformed the runway of the 1988 MTV Video Music Awards into her own personal theater. There is little to remember in terms of fabrics: for the event McGowan showed up in Los Angeles in a completely transparent dress, with only strings of beads on the back, revealing all that was left of her thong, managing to blow the scene to the award-winning Madonna. An overbearing dress, almost imperceptible at times and highly provocative, bearer of a very strong meaning, a denunciation. The same actress will tell it years later during an interview with Jameela Jamil: "I did it for a reason. It was my first public appearance after being raped “. McGowan was one of the leading accusers of the film giant Harvey Weinstein for the crimes of rape and sexual harassment and one of the first women to report everything in the press in the pages of the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2019.
1993, Kate Moss and the unexpected success at the Hilton Hotel
Remaining in the field of naked dresses, how can we not mention the one worn by supermodel Kate Moss in 1993 on the occasion of the Elite Model Agency party, Look of the Year Contest, at the Hilton Hotel in London. Those were the years of transparencies, the decades of nude in favor of clearly visible sinuosity and silhouettes. The creator of her dress was the English designer Liza Bruce, remembered above all for having given ample space on her catwalks around the world to leggings in all their forms: from cycling shorts to fluorescent leggings. No tight pants, however, for Kate Moss who on that occasion became the real "paparazzi" of the party: to talk about her long, metallic dress that, with the complicity of the lights, let a glimpse of everything including the very simple black thong worn by the model . And with that "slip" dress, the spotlights went crazy as did the flashes of photographers who only had lenses for Moss, then 19.
Jennifer Lopez's Jungle Dress and the rise of Donatella Versace in 2000
The Jungle Dress has literally entered history, it is the green dress by Donatella Versace worn by the iconic Jennifer Lopez. As well as that of Lady Gaga - which we will talk about shortly - also that of Jennifer Lopez, worn at the 2000 Grammy Awards, has entered history by winning its own dedicated Wikipedia page. Remembered for multiple titles, from that of "dress that made history" to that of "dress that launched Donatella Versace", the success of the fabric worn on the red carpet by JLo was such that Donatella Versace later decided to give it to her to thank her for the enormous publicity that she had managed to do to her. In silk chiffon, wildly transparent with that very deep neckline that becomes a split in a few centimeters, Lopez in the interviews that followed said that she had kept it in the "right place" thanks to her double-sided adhesive tape. Currently, the jungle dress is exhibited at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
Lady Gaga's meat dress, the meat dress that caused a scandal in 2010
So scandalous and extreme, enough to deserve a dedicated Wikipedia page, was the dress worn by Lady Gaga in 2010 at the MTV Video Music Awards. From the taste for the naked dress to the extreme meat dress of the star: a dress entirely made with beef weighing 23 kg. Lady Gaga, who in herself already had the spotlight on her, destabilized her entire parterre by making people talk about herself and that dress created by the Italian designer Nicola Formichetti. The criticisms and condemnations by animal rights activists did not abate for months, almost incredulous that they had been able to witness so much but subsequently put everyone to "silence" by Lady Gaga herself who paused to explain the underlying meaning of that dress: " it was to disrespect anyone who is vegan or vegetarian - Lady Gaga had declared to Ellen DeGeneres - As you know, I am the freest human being of judgment on earth. However, it has many interpretations but for me tonight, if we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights, very soon we will have as many rights as flesh on our own bones. And I'm not a piece of meat “.
Transparent and sequined for Rihanna, hypnotic at the Cfda Awards in 2014
Also in this case, the discourse diverges on an artist to whom it seems particularly not exhaustive to mention for a single "gamble". Like Cher and many other artists of her caliber, it is very difficult to open Rihanna's wardrobe and choose a single dress that is judged the "most scandalous of all" in a shared way. Rihanna has taught us, year after year, event after event that she can always overcome us in everything, even when the limits have already been crossed. However, if you really have to choose one of the R&B bad girl dresses, it is a must to mention the very sensual look sported by the singer in 2014 on the occasion of the CFDA Awards, the annual Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards. The Adam Selman dress studded with 216 thousand Swarovski crystals with which Rihanna shone for the Lincoln Center in New York is enchanting. A cascade of diamonds that has consecrated RiRi as a style icon, including sparkles and transparencies, diamonds and a very simple flesh-colored thong.
Beyoncé and naked dress at the 2015 Met Gala by Riccardo Tisci
We hadn't mentioned her yet but the time has come: rivers of ink are those used to describe Beyoncé's sensuality sported at the 2015 Met Ball Gala. Another red carpet, another dress, another nude code: a naked dress that of Beyoncé who had struggled to emerge, almost overshadowed by the controversy and irreverent parodies of the dress worn on the same occasion by Rihanna. Picking up a little bit of the "omelette" dress worn by RiRi in 2015, Beyoncé had also decided to walk the red carpet dressed in crystals aimed at enhancing the shapes of her on display, completely naked. Strategically snug in the right places to then let go on the bottom, in a mermaid style: the dress worn by Beyoncé was designed especially for her by Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy.
Bella Hadid s-dressed in red in 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival
Last, only in chronological terms, the model Bella Hadid "dressed in red", as the tabloids titled, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. With her light, fiery red dress, characterized by a very dizzying crotch slit and a neckline astounding, Bella Hadid took home a lot of compliments for her body and the title of “sexiest of the Festival”. Her able to juggle her moves and steps on the red carpet without letting the fabric slip from her hands, a gesture that could have cost her a real nude, was particularly appreciated by fashion critics who only wasted praise for the Alexandre dress. Vauthier Couture.
