Daring dresses on the red carpet
The stars who are firmly of the belief that less is more
By 
Naked dressing is far from a new trend when it comes to celebrity style and red-carpet fashion. An early pioneer of sheer dressing was Cher, who wore two barely-there Bob Mackie dresses at both the Met Gala in 1974 and the Oscars in 1988. The two ensembles broke red-carpet boundaries forever.
Celebrating the female form has been central to many of fashion’s most iconic moments over the years – spanning decades – such as Madonna’s catwalk debut for Jean Paul Gaultier in 1992, where she famously wore nothing but a high-waisted skirt and the frame of a bra. We also can’t talk about the power of the naked dress without mentioning Elizabeth Hurley, who upstaged her then-boyfriend Hugh Grant at the 1994 premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral wearing a daring Versace dress, held together by safety pins.
Of course, the iconic jungle-green design that Jennifer Lopez wore to the 2000 Grammys represented another turning point in Donatella Versace's career (with the singer later wearing a reissued version on the catwalk during a Versace show in 2019). Rather than breaking the internet, Lopez's iconic fashion moment actually improved it: when the singer first wore the original dress it was so heavily searched-for online that it inspired the creation of Google Images.
Then there’s the Met Gala, which alone has boasted countless A-List celebrities wearing bold, body-celebrating dresses on its red carpet. Over the years, we’ve seen Bella Hadid bare all in 2017 wearing Alexander Wang, and Kendall Jenner in a revealing La Perla design the same year – and who could forget Beyoncé’s sheer Givenchy gown from 2015 with its strategically placed crystals? Fast forward to more recent years and stars such as Zoë Kravitz, Olivia Rodrigo, Precious Lee, Karlie Kloss and Emily Ratajkowski have all opted for barely-there styles.
Here, we chart some of the most memorable and daring fashion moments to ever grace the red carpet:
Tyla
Tyla arrived at the 2025 Billboard Women in Music event in Los Angeles wearing a black webbed Jean Paul Gaultier dress with an elongated train.
Julia Fox
Julia Fox attended the Vanity Fair 2025 Oscars Party in Los Angeles wearing a naked Dilara Findikoglu dress.
Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Kravitz also attended wearing a black satin gown with a daring mesh cut-out design at the back.
Lili Reinhart
Lili Reinhart arrived at the Vanities: A Night For Young Hollywood party in Los Angeles wearing a sheer white lace midi dress by Shushu Tong with a deep V ruffled neckline.
Madison Beer
Madison Beer attended the 2025 Grammys wearing an ornate sheer Miss Sohee dress with a corset-style bodice and embroidered train.
Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen also opted for a daring dress, wearing a sheer black sculptural gown by Christian Siriano with a voluminous train.
Zoe Saldaña
After winning her first Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a supporting role, Zoe Saldaña slipped into a sheer high-neck Saint Laurent dress for the after-party celebrations. The stunning floor-length gown was constructed out of see-through floral lace in a mocha hue.
Zendaya
Zendaya paid tribute to the original pioneer of the naked dress, Cher, when presenting the music icon on-stage at her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The Euphoria star walked the red carpet in a vintage Bob Mackie dress with an entirely cut-away midriff, that was very similar to one previously worn by Cher in the 1970s.
Zoe Kravitz
Zoe Kravitz attended the Saint Laurent SS25 show during Paris Fashion Week wearing a lace mini-dress with black briefs underneath.
Anja Rubik
The model also wore a daring look to the Saint Laurent show in the form of this sheer strapless design.
Bella Hadid
![red carpet the 77th annual cannes film festival](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/bella-hadid-attends-the-the-apprentice-red-carpet-at-the-news-photo-1716381739.jpg?crop=0.849xw:0.957xh;0.0799xw,0.0166xh&resize=980:* ""The Apprentice" Red Carpet - The 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival")
Bella Hadid made her red-carpet comeback at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival wearing a taupe Saint Laurent dress, which featured an entirely unlined top and skirt.
Emily Ratajkowski
A longtime champion of the daring dress, Emily Ratajkowski wore this see-through vintage Versace design to the 2024 Met Gala.
Rita Ora
![the 2024 met gala](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/rita-ora-attends-the-2024-met-gala-celebrating-sleeping-news-photo-1715068828.jpg?crop=0.866xw:0.863xh;0.0782xw,0.0803xh&resize=980:* "The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" - Arrivals")
Rita Ora opted for a Marni look consisting of multi-coloured tassels over a nude body stocking.
Janelle Monae
![the 2024 met gala](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/janelle-mon-c3-a1e-at-the-2024-met-gala-sleeping-beauties-news-photo-1715069837.jpg?crop=0.859xw:0.860xh;0.131xw,0.0840xh&resize=980:* "The 2024 Met Gala: "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" - Arrivals")
Janelle Monae ascended those famous Met Museum steps in a custom Vera Wang design, featuring glistening embellishments.
Doja Cat
![the 2024 met gala](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/doja-cat-attends-the-2024-met-gala-celebrating-sleeping-news-photo-1715070183.jpg?crop=0.908xw:0.909xh;0.0663xw,0.0522xh&resize=980:* "The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" - Arrivals")
Doja Cat walked the red carpet in a wet T-shirt dress by Vetements, which clung to her body.
Anitta
Singer-songwriter Anitta walked the red carpet at the 2024 Oscars after-party in this barely-there mesh Fendi dress.
Jodie Turner Smith
Jodie Turner Smith wore a revealing black gown to the event. It featured a waist-high split up the leg and a low V-neckline.
Emily Ratajkowski
Emily Ratajkowski wore a Jacquemus gown that featured an off-centre bodice.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh wore a sheer dress by Simone Rocha for Jean Paul Gaultier, which featured ladylike embroidery.
Amelia Gray
The model chose a see-through Alaïa dress with textured cuffs to attend the CFDA Fashion Awards.
