The Untrue Truth About Naked Dressing

In 1993, Kate Moss attended an elite model “Look of the Year” party in a completely transparent slip dress and little black briefs; in 1998, Charlotte York told Carrie Bradshaw that on her first date with “Sex and the City” star Big In 2014, Rihanna won the CFDA Fashion Icon award without a bra under a starry pink net embellished with Swarovski crystals. 2015, Beyoncé wore a ascended the steps of the Met Gala in a Givenchy gown of nude tulle and strategically placed crystals; in 2024, Emily Ratakowski or Zoë Kravitz or [insert your favorite Kerr Jenner here], in a corset or sheath that captured the imagination, somewhere on the arriving on some red carpet. All of these outfits are variations on the same red carpet theme. Naked dressing has become a generic term for clothing that shows rather than hides, with transparent fabrics, strategic cutouts, and form-fitting silhouettes. It has become the default mode when celebrities want to stand out from the crowd.

The precedent goes back decades: in the 1920s, starlets like Clara Bow, the original It Girl, were dressed in semi-transparent garments in the first silent films. more adventurous structures came to the forefront.

However, it was during a period similar to today's Hollywood that nude dressing took off. As someone who watches red carpet live streams and scrolls through social media for a living, I have seen more nearly-naked celebrities at this point than I have actually seen naked people in real life. [Fabrics that liberate nipples, like Florence Pugh's controversial Valentino see-through ball gown from 2023, or expose cheeks from the side, like Anja Taylor-Joy's belted mu-grey mini dress she wore this spring, maximize “Have you seen this?” felt tailored to share, but much more powerful than that.

“Today, nude dressing is often seen as a statement of confidence and empowerment,” says fashion and costume historian Shelby Ivey Christie.

“It challenges traditional notions of modesty and body image, allowing individuals to reclaim their bodies and express their own style.

Celebrity stylist Kat Taipaldos expresses the subtext by dressing her clients in transparent clothing. She says, “It's something that's still pretty taboo, something people are told we're not supposed to do, but people can collaborate.” Especially in Western and American cultures, where being naked is so “shameful.” It's really exciting to be able to feel proud of our bodies in public.”

But after the 15th time someone like Jennifer Lopez dresses naked, the power to shock, awe, empower, and scandalize seems to be waning. We already know that some public figures are always more transparent in their red carpet outfits than in their interviews, and that they are not bound by the exact same dress code as the general public. So what about the rest of us?

Designers have spent the last year pushing their lingerie-related agenda on shoppers. In an era where women's rights are in retreat, near see-through clothing is positioned as both sexy and a shortcut to reclaiming our bodies. This sensibility overlaps with some of the earliest instances of naked dressing, notes historian Ivey Christie: in the case of brands like Poster Girl and Mugler, which sell see-through lace bodysuits and latex influenced by strip club attire, “this crossover highlights how subcultures often pave the way for broader trends.”

These days, at least on the shopping racks, naked dressing is, in theory, for everyone. When I wrote this article in the summer, a search for “transparent dress” in one department store yielded 1,440 results; a search for “corset” yielded 608. Prada has the same revealing dresses as J. Crew. The only difference is the price.

According to Ivey Christie, at least in major fashion cities, people are actually seeking the “peek-a-boo” moments carried by hundreds of brands.

Women who tried to attend events in see-through dresses and skirts, or at least thought about it, told us that self-acceptance and an awareness of the female gaze were the main attractions of their outfits. I love shapes and figures, so I don't typically have an aversion to the see-through look,” says stylist Kelly Augustine, who specializes in plus-size fashion and dressing clients who are not sample sizes.

“Some may think this trend is for the male gaze, and I can see how someone might use the sheer look to express a sense of ownership, power, and comfort with their body.”

Still, cultural and social barriers can prevent anyone from feeling comfortable or safe trying this trend. Challenging naked dress can have very different consequences depending on the race, body size, and socioeconomic status of the person who wears it. Says Ivey Christie, “For example, black women and women of color may face different scrutiny and sexualization than their white counterparts.” [And Augustine says she'd like to see plump bodies in nude dresses more often. Whether on the red carpet or on the sidewalk, most of the bodies showing off their soon-to-be-birthday suits are skinny. Women who try to break the runway mold face calls to hide.

Model and size inclusion advocate Lauren Chang even points out that the options for trying out naked trends in the first place are limited by size. Lauren Chan, a model and advocate for size inclusion, even points out that the options for experimenting with naked trends are limited by size to begin with.

“But this is a problem that fashion always faces,” she says.

Runway reinforces that narrow view with its narrow casting. The website “Even the Data is in Fashion” reports that consumer popularity for sheer dresses and sheer fabrics has declined by 5.4%. By the time the trend permeates store shelves, a shift in thinking may have taken hold: perhaps the big question is not who wears naked dresses, but who actually wants to wear them.

This is the beauty of a once niche look becoming mainstream: as showing skin becomes increasingly normalized, choosing to do so becomes just as acceptable as not choosing to do so. There are more ways to evolve styling, more ways to push the definition of who the item encourages, and ultimately more ways to find confidence in concealing instead of exposing. The inherently flamboyant nature of this trend has led some involved to prefer to observe it rather than actually wear it. The evolution of social mores has not made the naked dress an office-friendly item, jokes Taipaldos. Augustine agrees, “I actually like the look of the trend, and I love seeing it on the runway and red carpet.” But it's not practical for my everyday life.”

Even celebrities have their limits. As a stylist, I would never go to a client and tell them they should wear this because it's trendy,” says Taipaldos. 'If anything, I have a conversation around the outfit and what I want to convey first and foremost. Often, wearing a transparent dress doesn't mean that it's sexy because it's transparent. It's more about how this makes me feel. “For clients like ‘Hux’ star Meg Stalter, who wore a sheer Norma Kamali dress and high-waisted briefs on the red carpet at the 2022 Emmy Awards, the trend is about making their bodies to feel present and empowered.

Earlier this spring, Chang commissioned independent designer Mario Fugnitt to create two naked dresses to celebrate his second Sports Illustrated Swimsuit feature. One was a crystal see-through dress that mimicked a splash of water over a black skims swimsuit, and the other was a white toweling mini that mimicked a soaking wet pool towel. Even supermodel Lily Aldridge said she was the best-dressed of the event. It was “empowering, it showed off the body, it didn't hide it, it didn't hold it in place with anything.” It was, after all, also for the red carpet.

This article appeared in the 2024 Changemaker issue of Marie Claire.

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