Fashion is a powerful thing. It’s almost a language for many people, an outward expression of yourself and what you want to present to the world. And let’s be honest, it’s incredible what a little skin can do to get you noticed.
This list counts down the most scandalous dresses ever worn by celebs which in some cases is where they kick-start their careers. Get ready to drop your jaw…
Rihanna
Riri is another star known for shocking an audience with her risky red-carpet wear, but for the 2017 Met Gala she may not have shown off as much skin as she could have had.
Still, she proved herself a fashion icon with this look:
Putting her own interpretation on the theme of the year Avant gart, she looked like an absolute piece of art with this architectural gown.
Keep reading to see the dresses which stunned the world:
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is one of those people that knows how to shock and is good at it! No, she is not walking in a Victoria Secret fashion show, but those wings certainly are angelic.
She wore this golden getup at the 2018 Met Gala whose theme was “Heavenly Bodies” and it seems she took the theme straight to heart. From the giant golden and white wings almost twice, her size to her white hair - she committed to this look!
Kate Middleton
It’s far from the covered-up elegant Kate we have learned to love, here we see Miss Middleton before entering into the royal sphere when she walked for the runway for a student fashion show in 2002 in this very see-through dress that landed up catching her a prince!
The designer of the dress knew what she was doing and created the dress with ‘the art of seduction’ in mind. And stated, "So, in a way, if that's what she wanted, she definitely bagged her prince, so it got her what she wanted."
Angelina Jolie - The Pose That Went Viral
This dress made more headlines the month Angie wore it than anything else, and all because of her commitment to display that gorgeous leg of hers.
Jolie wore this Atelier Versace gown in 2012 and no one could get past her commitment to showing off the dress, and the slit, as it was meant to be shown, not only thrusting it out on the red carpet but when she presented the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, you know what they say, when you’ve got it - flaunt it!
Sharon Stone - Not Your Basic Instinct
An unforgettable movie scene to which the dress contributed is this one in Basic instinct where Sharon Stone wears a sleeveless turtleneck as the movie’s femme fatale.
This scene saw her character crossing and uncrossing her legs, and since she was not wearing underwear, her lady parts were exposed, something Stone claimed she was not aware of (why she didn’t just put on panties, who knows). The graphic sexuality of the scene led to major criticism.
Lady Gaga - A Piece of Meat
No surprises for Lady Gaga making an appearance on this list, she is one of the legends of using fashion to shock… and her meat dress goes down as the most shocking of all! When Lady Gaga accepted her 2010 MTV Video of the Year awards she wore nothing, but raw flank steak and meat accessories.
About the controversial dress decision, Gaga explained, "If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights pretty soon, we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones, and I am not a piece of meat."
Bjork - Iconic
You know when your dress has its very own Wikipedia page you’ve made history! When Bjork stepped out on the red carpet at the 2001 Oscars wearing what looked like a real dead swan made into a dress, people reacted.
While critics absolutely tore it apart at the time, over the years the dress has become something of an icon, so much so that Valentino recently reimagined the design in a couture fashion show!
Theda Bara - Snake Woman
One costume included a coiled snake bra wrapped around her bare breasts….this would be considered racy today so just imagine back then! Censors even cut out some scenes that included Bara’s “objectionable costume”.
Michelle Obama - The Symbol of America
What’s so scandalous about this dress you ask? Well pictured here is former first lady Michelle Obama in a Michael Kors dress that was worn for her first official portrait as the first lady. And it was one of the first times ever a first lady’s arms were exposed, and what arms they were!
Something about Obama’s toned biceps and shoulders got the country in a frenzy, as New York Times columnist Maureen Down but it "Let's face it: The only bracing symbol of American strength right now is the image of Michelle Obama's sculpted biceps."
Josephine Baker - “Ridiculous Wiggling”
There were always mixed reactions to the woman larger than life, dancer and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker. Baker burst onto the scene in the 1920s and captured attention with her routine ‘danse sauvage’ where she wore a skirt made of bananas and gave meaning to twerking before it was even a word.
As you can imagine, in the 1920s this caused quite a stir. Some were outraged by her routine, her contemporary, Essie Robeson even called it “ridiculously vulgar….wiggling” while some appreciated it tremendously such as Ernest Hemmingway who called Baker “the most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will.”
Jean Harlow - Blonde Bombshell
Sex symbol of the 1930s, Jean Harlow was an American actress who flaunted the body God gave her and loved wearing the clingiest of dresses with no bra…a total travesty in the 1930’s. Here the actress who was known as the blonde bombshell is seen clinging onto her co-star from the film Red Dust, Clarke Gable, in an even clingier dress.
In this photo, Harlow is seen posing in a Gilbert Adrian gown that had a low back and crisscrosses straps. Harlow could not even sit down in the dress because of the way it was cut to her figure!
Rita Hayworth - A Soldiers Dream
Oh, Rita Hayworth, arguably America’s most popular pinup girls to date. The actress known as “Love Goddess” sits in this picture posing for LIFE magazine in a lacy negligee kneeling seductively on a bed in 1941.
The picture was deemed too risky for the cover of the magazine, but it didn’t stop people noticing. In fact, more than 5 million copies landed up in the hands of American Troops who were fighting WWII!
Elsa Hosk
I guess when you’re a Victoria Secret model, perfecting the naked dress isn’t all that hard, tale Elsa Hosk who attended the 2018 Vanity Fait Oscar after-party looking like a part-naked goddess.
Hosk wore an Alberta Ferretti gown that highlighted her vintage style lingerie worn underneath paired with Rene Cauville shoes and her perfect figure the look was a huge success.
Marilyn Monroe - Subway Breeze
Who doesn’t recognize this iconic look of Marilyn Monroe, the white halter neck dress as she stands with the wind blowing up her skirt exposing her perfect legs!
This was from a scene in the film ‘Seven Year Itch” where she asks "Ooh, do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn't it delicious?" apparently her husband at the time Joe DiMaggio was on set for the risky scene and was so upset by it, it ultimately led to the breakdown of their marriage!
Angelina Jolie - Blood Deep
What’s so daring and scandalous about this simple looking outfit you ask? Oh, nothing nothing…other than the VIAL OF BLOOD necklace she is wearing!!
In Jolie’s wilder days of her youth, she was eccentric, to put it lightly. Angie and her then man Billie Bob Thornton took their love to the next level wearing jewelry marked with each other blood on the red carpet…how very romantic.
Marilyn Monroe - Sparkling and Naked
It only makes sense that Marilyn Monroe appears on our list more than once, the blonde beauty was a total sensation. Here is Marilyn singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.
The naked dress, a skin-tight garment covered in 2,500 crystals was designed for the actress who specifically asked that the dress make her look “Sparkling and naked”. After she took the stage Kennedy reportedly said, "I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way."
Gigi Hadid - Met Gala Queen
Another name that is synonymous with fashion these days is verging-on supermodel Gigi Hadid who seems to outdo herself every time she makes a public appearance.
Here she is pictured at the 2018 Met Gala in a Versace dress which looks like butterfly wings and stained-glass art somehow at the same time. Gigi was glowing from head to toe and looked very much angelic.
Carroll Baker - Sex Sells
Baker is the power woman that established herself not only as a pinup girl but as a seriously talented actress. Here she is at the premier to her 1964 film ‘The Carpetbaggers’ in London outside the plaza theatre looking beyond fabulous.
Apparently, the crowd that had gathered to catch a glimpse of the bombshell blonde was nearly caused a riot! Baker was fully aware of her intrigue as a sex symbol and even stated: “I've tried just acting, but sex sells at the box office."
Kendal Jenner - Ravishing in White
The model of the Kardashian-Jenner family Kendal may be the most private when it comes to her personal life, but damn does that girl know how to flaunt her body!!
Jenner has always been a fan of the naked dress, but when she stepped out on the red carpet for the Cannes festival in 2018, she outdid herself. The white, layered and see through Schiaparelli gown paired with Chopard jewelry was perfection.
Bianca Jagger - Bombshell Bride
It’s hard to believe looking at this picture, but Bianca Jagger was four months pregnant when she tied the knot with Rockstar Mick Jagger in St. Tropez back in 1971.
For her wedding ‘dress’ she opted for a jacket with nothing underneath and plenty of bridal boob on display and I long skirt. Ad Bianca walked through the crowd, the new Mrs. Jagger, she looked breath-taking and stylish.
Jennifer Lopez - Created Google Image Search
Jenny was far from her usual block when she stepped out in this Versace dress. It was like the world simply couldn’t handle the combination of JLo, the Grammy’s and some very sneakily placed tape. People went gaga over it.
Not only did its insight an internet frenzy, but it inspired the launch of Google Image Search! Talk about the power of fashion…
"At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen," Google exec Eric Schmidt revealed in a blog post." But we had no sure-fire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: JLo wearing that dress. Google Image Search was born."
Rihanna - Shine Bright Like a Diamond
Being the icon and queen she is, this Barbados Beauty appears more than once on our list. Here she is pictured at the 2014 CFDA Awards wearing 230,000 Swarovski crystals, a thong….and nothing else really.
She definably shone the brightest of the stars with this somehow elegant yet totally naked dress look. And walked home with nothing other than the Fashion Icon award.
Cher
Another woman who will have more than one honorable mention on this list is the singer icon Cher who has been known across generations as a style legend.
This dress, in particular, got people talking. She wore this naked feather dress first to the Metropolitan Museum in 1974.
Copy-Cats
Even nowadays celebs want to imitate this look, Kim Kardashian even paid homage to it at the Met Gala.
Lady Diana - Revenge Dress
She strikes again! And this look may just be the most iconic of all- it was on June 29, 1994, the very night Prince Charles confessed on national television that he had had an affair during his marriage to Princess Di, that she stepped out with this number.
Not even his confession would stop the royal Princess from attending a scheduled public appearance, with that off-the-shoulder bodycon mini dress and sweetheart neckline to die for. Diana actually chose to wear this at the very last minute since at first, she deemed it indecent. It became known as her ‘Revenge Dress’.
Mary Richards - Love It or Hate It
Okay so this dress appears on a TV series, but it still deserves a place on our list! Here we see a scene captured from the fifth season of ”The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, Moore's character Mary Richards wears this very interesting green dress which was gifted to her by a prostitute friend (makes sense).
When Mary steps out in this risky cut-out dress, the live audience responded with serious shrieks and cheers. Her friend on the series Ted Baxter responds with typical male thirst “Get me a glass of water," while Mary hates it…love or hate, we won’t be forgetting it anytime soon!
Princess Diana - Scandalous See-through
Lady Diana Spencer is pictured here in 1980 before she was even engaged to the prince! Here she innocently poses with children at Young England Kindergarten…but the pictures turned out not to be all that innocent.
The nursery school assistant turned princess seemed to have forgotten her slip-on that fateful day, and when the sun came out her full legs were exposed in a way that got London up in arms!
Britney Spears - Risky Performance
It was when Britney was rising out of her innocent Mickey Mouse Playhouse days and into the era of pure sex-appeal that she brought out this jaw-dropping outfit….including a live boa.
It was during her 2001 MTV VMA performance where she hung a 7-foot albino Burmese python around her shoulder wearing a very racy little outfit, "There are moments where I look back and think: 'What the hell was I thinking?'" the singer later said about the performance.
Princess Diana
We’ll be seeing a lot of Princess Di on this list, fitting as she was one of the world’s favorite fashionista.
Here Princess Diana is pictured at only 19-years-old on her first public outing alongside Prince Charles looking as fabulous as only she knew how.
A Cleavage Catastrophe
Diana was one woman who pushed royal fashion boundaries from day one. On this night she was photographed getting out of the car with a whole lot more cleavage than was usual for royals to show.
"We hadn't considered the fact that when Diana bent over — as she would have to do when getting out of the car — she would show quite a lot of cleavage," wrote designer Elizabeth Emanual. "We just thought she looked fabulous."- and we agree!
Carrie Fisher - Sexy Slave Outfit
The copper bikini that transformed Carrie Fisher into a sex symbol. Fisher wore this very risky outfit as her character Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi. While guys couldn’t take their eyes off the screen, the outfit choice also came under a lot of criticism.
Many people, parents particularly, were not happy at what they called this ‘soft-core porn’ placed right in the middle of a kid’s adventure film. Even Fisher had her doubts and warned Star Wars actress Daisey Ridley to “keep fighting against that slave outfit."
Madonna - (Not So Much) Like A Virgin
It would be the performance that cemented her into the raunchy and risky icon she is known as today- when she sang ‘Like a Virgin’ at the MTV awards wearing a white bustier top, long dramatic lace gloves, and a belt that had the words ‘boy toy’ written on it.
The performance saw her writhing around on the floor, possibly flashing her audience and giving an all-around sex-infused rendition of her song. Her publicist Liz Rosenberg said, "People came up to me and told me her career was over before it started." Guess ‘people’ don’t really know what they’re talking about, do they?
Pippa Middleton - The Booty That Shook The World
We all remembered when the world stopped to watch Prince Williams and Kate Middleton tie the know in their fabulous royal wedding, but no one expected someone other than the bride to steal all the attention- her sister Pippa!
Bridesmaid Pippa’s dress designed by Alexander McQueen nearly caused her to upstage her bride sister due to the incredibly snug fitting of the dress.
On the commotion, she caused Pippa said: "I think the plan was not really for it to be a significant dress. Really just to sort of blend in with the train," Pippa said in 2014. "I suppose it's flattering, embarrassing, definitely. It wasn't planned."
Cher#2 - What’s It Gonna Be?
And Cher makes an appearance again. This time in another Bob Mackie, see-through dress that would turn heads at the Academy Awards show in 1988.
Cher had become so much of a fashion risk-taker that many had speculated as to what she would wear on this occasion. And she didn’t disappoint, this particular number became one of the most memorable dresses in Hollywood history.
Venus Williams
Both the Williams sisters are beyond talented tennis stars, and apparently both fashionistas’ too!
They love to come up with cool, sexy outfits in which to do their winning, like this black lace gown she wore when Venus defeated Patty Schnyder.
Scandalizing The Crowd
Not only was she wearing some very revealing attire as she ran back and forth the court, but she wore flesh-colored boy shorts to push the envelope a little more!
She claimed, "Like, you can wear lace, but what's the point of wearing lace when there's just black under?"
Beyoncé - Saving The Best For Last
Queen B is the queen of everything Hollywood including fashion and proved it for a millionth time at the 2015 Met Gala when she rocked up in this mostly see-through stunning creation of a dress.
Bey certainly knew how to make an entrance and had everyone waiting to see what she would come up with, arriving last in this fabulous creation since she was at a charity event with former President Obama earlier in the day (casual), but the wait was worth it!
Cindy Crawford - Lady in Red
When you are making your first public appearance with Richard Gere, you know you’ve got to step up the fashion game, and for the supermodel Cindy Crawford, she had no issues rising to the occasion.
She wore an all-eyes-on-me scarlet Versace halter neck dress with a high slit in the back and a plunging neckline. The dress is still considered iconic and copied until today.
Amber Rose - Naked Tribute
Who would have thought that naked dressed would reach a point where they have such a rich history you can actually pay tribute to other naked dresses through your choice of outfit- which is exactly what Amber Rose did when she paid homage to Rose McGowan’s dress at the 2014 VMA’s.
Rose McGowan may have done it first, but with Amber Rose’s perfect body and dazzling face, she may have done it better/ it’s not surprising no one could take their eyes off her.
Kate Moss - Underwear as Overwear
Two supermodels in one photo, but for reasons very ‘clear’, all eyes were on Kate Moss rather than Naomi Campbell. Here, a 19-year-old Moss poses at a party in London in 1993 in a dress which BBC aptly described as “startlingly sheer”.
Although the dress got everyone talking, some pretty negatively, many jumped to her defense. The designer Liza Bruce stated to Daily Mail “The dress did come out more transparent in the picture (than in reality), which is maybe why she had the confidence to wear it ... It wasn't a come on ... it was just 'this is me.' Her body language was so much like a kid's."
Jane Mansfield
Believe it or not, this is not even the most popular photo captured this night of Sophia Loren’s party.
If you click next, you’ll see the very first, and most brilliant side-eye ever given when Loren was more than pissed that her ‘pal’ Mansfield pitched up to HER event and stole the spotlight.
Spotlight Stealing
But honestly, look at that skin-tight, cleavage filled dress which looks like it’s about to pop open and it’s easy to understand Mansfield knew exactly what she was doing.
Look at the picture," Loren recently told EW.
"Where are my eyes? I'm staring at her nipples because I am afraid, they are about to come onto my plate. In my face, you can see the fear. I'm so frightened that everything in her dress is going to blow — BOOM! — and spill all over the table."
Miley Cyrus in Whatever This Is
She may be back to her country-loving, pg. ways now, but there was a time where Miley Cyrus was all-out wild with her weed-smoking and wrecking ball twerking. This outfit (if you could call it an outfit) is a testimony to those darker and smokier times.
It was at the 2017 Met Gala when Miley featured a totally clear plastic body suite topped off with big polka dots covering just what needed to be covered, and those weird white sunglasses.
Madonna
Time may pass, but Madonna’s desire to push the fashion boundaries is here to stay.
When the singer attended 2016 met Gala, she made the girls half her age jealous with envy with a totally see-through bottom half of her dress exposing a black thong.
Political Statement
The dress may look just sexy to you, but for Madonna is was also a political statement.
After she received plenty of criticism for her choice of dress, she wrote on her Instagram the fact that people actually believe a woman is not allowed to express her sexuality and be adventurous past a certain age is proof that we still live in an age-ist and sexist society."
Elizabeth Hurley - Surprising Response
Another dress that played a hand in finding someone fame is this safety pin dress by Versace worn by Elizabeth Hurley when she accompanied Hugh Grant to the premiere of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral”.
Before this dress, she was virtually unknown, and overnight everyone was telling about her and the iconic dress. Designer Gianni Versace had his reasons why "Liz has this intelligent face attached to that very naughty body," he said. "So seeing a woman like her in this gown is a guarantee that everyone would go pozzo ”.
Chrissy Teigen - Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
Mother, wife, and most hilarious human alive Chrissy Teigen went all-out…and we mean all out when she attended the 2016 American Music Awards…I mean that slit goes all the way up to her bra!
