As we inch towards the freewheeling body positive existence so craved by Instagram feminists everywhere, (see: #freethenipple, #freeyourpits, #arthoe and so on) celebrities stepping out of the house in the near-nude is becoming more and more a part of today’s normal. In the last year alone, some version of the “naked dress” has made an appearance at the Met Gala, the VMAs and last night, several times during the American Music Awards. But it isn’t the first time such dressing made its way into headlines—the “naked dress” has been a thing since 1962, when Marilyn Monroe appeared on-stage, nipples and all, to serenade American president and rumoured lover JFK.
Coined during one of Sex and the City’s first episodes and aptly described as “tits on toast” (a Miranda-ism, obv), the “naked dress” leaves little to the imagination, anatomically speaking. Metaphorically though, it leaves things wide open.
Flip through our guide to the “naked dress” throughout recent history. You’ll remember most of them for being salacious. We prefer to look back at them as pivotal steps towards absolute female badassery.
naked dress Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe pre-JFK serenade, 1962
naked dress Cher
Cher in Bob Mackie at the first-ever Met Gala, 1974
naked dress Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley in Versace at the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere, 1993
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Rose McGowan at the MTV Video Music Awards, 1998
naked dress Sex and the city
Carrie’s infamous “naked dress” launches Sex and the City‘s first season, 1998
naked dress Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez at the Grammys, 2000
naked-dress-Toni-Braxton
Toni Braxton at the Grammys, 2001
naked dress kristen stewart
Kristen Stewart in Zuhair Murad at the The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 premiere, 2012
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Rihanna in Adam Selman at the CFDA Awards, 2014
naked dress Beyonce
Beyonce in Givenchy Haute Couture at the Met Gala, 2015
naked-dress-Kim-Kardashian
Kim Kardashian in Roberto Cavalli at the Met Gala, 2015
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Miley Cyrus in Versace at the MTV Video Music Awards, 2015
naked dress Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez in Charbel Zoe at the American Music Awards, 2015
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Gigi Hadid in a sheer white Yanina Couture gown at the Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards, 2015
Oscars-2016-after-party-Emily-Ratajkowski
Emily Ratajkowski wears a sheer tulle skirt by Australian designer Steven Khalil to the Vanity Fair Oscars after party, 2016.
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Rita Ora wears an elaborately skin-baring Vera Wang gown to the Met Gala, 2016
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Kendall Jenner flaunts her bod in Calvin Klein at the Met Gala, 2016
The post The evolution of the naked dress, from Carrie Bradshaw to Jennifer Lopez appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
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