While the ‘naked dress’ was the favored red carpet style of 2025, and shows no signs of going anywhere this year, it’s actually a trend that dates back to the 1920s.
Long before Hollywood stars, including Margot Robbie, Demi Moore, and Dakota Johnson, rocked barely-there looks on the red carpet, silent film stars of the ’20s embraced all things sheer.
The term ‘naked dress’ originated in a 1998 episode of Sex and the City, when Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) called Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) nude-colored DKNY slip dress for her first date with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) “the naked dress.”
The ‘naked’ dress is defined by barely-there materials such as sheer mesh, tulle, lace, or crystals, that create the illusion of nudity while clothed, and iterations of the look have been around for several decades.
The modern iteration made a resurgence in the 2010s, when Rihanna revived the look at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards, wearing a sheer Adam Selman dress that featured over 216,000 crystals.
Stars like Beyoncé, Bella Hadid, Megan Fox, and Emily Ratajkowski followed suit, and there was a steady stream of sheer fabrics on red carpets before 2025 became the year of the ‘naked’ dress.
See below for the stars who embraced the ‘naked dress’ trend, long before it gained popularity.
© Getty ImagesMae West in 1936
Mae West
American actress Mae West dared to bare in her 1936 film, Go West, Young Man, wearing a sheer dress with strategically placed floral appliqué.
© Getty ImagesMarilyn Monroe in 1962
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe probably wore one of the most iconic iterations of the naked dress when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to then-president John F. Kennedy in 1962. The actress wore a skin-tight, rhinestone-covered gown by Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, which she reportedly had to be sewn into.
© Getty ImagesJane Birkin in 1969
Jane Birkin
In 1969, Jane Birkin, after whom the iconic Hermès Birkin bag is named, went braless under a see-through mini dress at the premiere of Slogan.
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyCher in 1974
Cher
Cher wore a feather-trimmed shimmery sheer jumpsuit designed by her close friend Bob Mackie, who created the original sketch for Marilyn Monroe’s ‘Happy Birthday’ dress, to her first Met Gala in 1974.
© Getty ImagesKate Moss in 1993
Kate Moss
Kate Moss had no idea she was making a fashion statement in a see-through metallic dress in 1993. “I did not know that this dress was see-through until the pictures came out the next day in the newspaper,” she told British Vogue in 2022.
© WireImageRose McGowan in 1998
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan made a memorable entrance to the 1998 MTV Music Awards in a naked dress made entirely of beads that left nothing to the imagination.
© Getty ImagesJennifer Lopez in 2000
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez is no stranger to a ‘naked’ dress, but her most iconic is the green Versace tropical-print dress she wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards. The dress, which featured a deeply plunging neckline and sheer fabric, was searched for online so many times that it inspired the creation of Google Images, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
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