A Decade of the Iconic 'Meat Dress'

[Hybrid AT 78]

Exactly 10 years ago today, Lady Gaga changed into the third outfit of her big night at the MTV Video Music Awards 2010, a dress made of raw meat. Designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, the dress was condemned by animal rights groups, and named by Time as the top fashion statement of 2010.

     

She also announced the title of her (then forthcoming) third studio album, Born This Way, in this dress as she won the final and biggest award of the night, Video of the Year for Bad Romance.

The press speculated on the originality of the meat dress idea, with comparisons made to similar images found in contemporary art and popular culture. As with her other dresses, it was archived, but went on display in 2011 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after being preserved by taxidermists as a type of jerky. It has since then been moved to and is now displayed at the Haus of Gaga exhibition in Las Vegas, NV as part of showcasing Lady Gaga's archive of iconic outfits and statement pieces

  

Gaga explained following the awards ceremony that the dress was a statement about one's need to fight for what one believes in, and highlighted her distaste for the US military's don't-ask-don't-tell policy.

"It's certainly no disrespect to anyone that's vegan or vegetarian," Gaga told DeGeneres, who herself is vegan, in a post-show interview. "As you know, I'm the most judgment-free human being on the Earth. It has many interpretations, but for me this evening it's [saying], 'If we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones.'"

The dress has now become one of the most iconic pop culture moments in modern history and has its own Wikipedia page titled "Lady Gaga's Meat Dress": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Gaga's_meat_dress

Bonus: Last year, Fernandez, the designer of the dress also shared on his instagram account a post that showed some behind-the-scenes glimpses of how the dress was made and stitched together.

TRICONIC 

[Bubblegum Bitch 18,934]

Cultural Reset

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

I C O N I C 
My only concern with it is I wish I had been better preserved for the exhibits. I understand the essence of decay and transformation she wanted to convey but the dress kind of looks like a completely different dress than the original after it was preserved and painted

[alsemanche 89,874]

The worst thing she's ever worn 

[GagaSkeletonWay 2,034]

Can't believe she didn't get backlash from this still

Although I love it 

[DirrtyPony 1,330]

I will NEVER forget this iconic night 

The anticipation for Born This Way was real.

[Pennywise 35,633]

Gurl I remember being sad about her not performing, but then this happened and we were all like:

[PunkTheFunk 122,364]

I know we throw around the words iconic and legendary all the time but this was LITERALLY iconic and legendary, and something she will forever be remembered for  

[Hebi 13,928]

@Billie Eilish

[Red 89,903]

What if I told you I was so excited that she won VOTY and announced Born This Way that I didn't even pay attention to her dress and only realized it was meat the day after?  

[Hybrid AT 78]

14 minutes ago, Blastertoyo said:

My only concern with it is I wish I had been better preserved for the exhibits.

It was literally preserved by taxidermists. That is how it has been able to remain preserved as it is now. It couldn't be preserved any better than it was. It's meat, at the end of the day. No amount of preservation would have avoided whatever decay it has experienced.

[Hybrid AT 78]

24 minutes ago, alsemanche said:

The worst thing she's ever worn 

The controversial nature of the dress aside, its silhouette and the way it was constructed was pretty stunning, lbr. It looked like a high fashion couture piece even though it was just a few pieces of meat strewn together.

So no, it isn't the worst thing she's ever won (visually speaking)

[vyniildisk 12,689]

Her face and makeup looked amazing!

[alsemanche 89,874]

1 hour ago, HybridAT said:

The controversial nature of the dress aside, its silhouette and the way it was constructed was pretty stunning, lbr. It looked like a high fashion couture piece even though it was just a few pieces of meat strewn together.

So no, it isn't the worst thing she's ever won (visually speaking)

Well the whole point of the dress is the meat part so yes it is the worst thing she's ever worn imo

[RAMROD 99,768]

9 minutes ago, alsemanche said:

Well the whole point of the dress is the meat part so yes it is the worst thing she's ever worn imo

 

You just broke one taboo in the Gaga standom, regardless of free speech. I hope you are alright being exiled by the community now.