Raising the steaks: The impact of Lady Gaga’s meat dress 10 years on

[Hybrid AT 78]

It’s Sunday 12 September 2010, and the MTV Video Music Awards are in full swing. Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre is full to the rafters with the famous and fabulous: Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj. Camera bulbs are flashing, diamonds are dazzling, champagne is flowing. Lady Gaga, who has been nominated for a record 13 awards, has just won the Video of the Year trophy for Bad Romance. Cher, dressed in bejeweled body stocking, waits on stage to present the award. Gaga appears. Jaws drop. The pop star is wearing a dress made entirely from raw meat.

Created by designer Franc Fernandez and featuring a cowl neckline, a slashed-to-thigh hem and matching beef clutch bag, the “meat dress”, as it quickly became known, was an overnight sensation. Dominating the event’s headlines, it knocked every other attendee’s outfit sideways, even eclipsing Gaga’s other two looks: an Alexander McQueen dress with plume feather headdress, and a black leather gown by Giorgio Armani.

Global press dedicated column inches to speculating over what the dress stood for, whether it smelt dodgy, and was it in fact real meat? (The answer was yes, it comprised 50 pounds of rib and steak purchased from Fernandez’s butcher.) Replicas were made and sold for up to $100,000 (£80,000), while the original dress was preserved and put on exhibition. Hailed as the biggest fashion moment of the year, Gaga’s meat dress was nothing short of a sartorial phenomenon, and a decade later, it’s impact on red carpet dressing is still being felt.

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Though Gaga’s steaky slip might not have been the first headline-grabbing outfit to hit the red carpet, it was undoubtedly a watershed moment. Disrupting the red carpet like never before, it has upped our threshold for outrageous dressing, and subsequent attempts to outdo it have felt somewhat tame by comparison. Rihanna’s 2018 Papal Met gala outfit, Beyonce’s 2015 ‘naked’ dress, Angelina Jolie’s leg-revealing 2012 Oscars frock – sorry all, Gaga’s meat feast raised the bar for shock-factor irrevocably, and an exposed bum cheek or blinged-up Mitre simply doesn’t match it.

The apex of wild it surely was, however the meat dress has had another lasting effect on red carpet style; it paved the way for protest dressing.

When Gaga stepped onto the VMA’s stage cloaked in flank, it wasn’t purely for scandalous effect. It was a political move. A public advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, the dress was the precursor to “The Prime Rib of America” speech she gave ten days later in Maine, lobbying against the United States military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, an act that prohibited homosexual and bisexual service people from disclosing their sexual orientation.

"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 pop star told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres after the awards ceremony, by way of explanation.

Granted it wasn’t the most straightforward of protest outfits; much of the media coverage centred around the outcry from animal rights and vegan organisations, while controversy swirled over whether the concept had been copied from an artist – both of which detracted from Gaga’s intended message. However it did reposition the role of the red carpet as a place not just for sartorial peacocking but as a platform for activism. (Arguably it worked, President Barack Obama signed a repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy into law two months later.)

In the decade since, protest dressing has been the dominant theme on the red carpet – albeit in a less protein-rich form. In 2016, Julia Roberts removed her stilettos to walk barefoot along the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in response to the festival's “heels only” rule for women. A move repeated two years later by Kirsten Stewart, who turned up to the Cannes BlacKkKlansman premiere wearing trainers, before swiftly removing them. 2017 saw actors including Dakota Johnson, Evan Rachel Wood and Noomi Rapace don suits at the Golden Globes and S.A.G. Awards in a statement against patriarchal pressure. The following year, actors exclusively wore black on the Golden Globes red carpet to protest against sexual harassment in Hollywood following allegations against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein was later sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

At this month's Venice Film Festival – the first physical red carpet since the global pandemic struck – Cate Blanchett made headlines after rewearing designs by Alexander McQueen and Esteban Cortazar to highlight the need for greater sustainability within the fashion industry.

The prevalence of protest dressing has not just changed how the red carpet looks, but also how it’s talked about. With political and social agendas continuing to be pushed, commentary has been forced to switch focus from the outdated “what are you wearing?”, to the endlessly more interesting “why are you wearing it?”

Would this be the case if Gaga hadn't worn the meat dress? Arguably not. So the next time your favourite actor isn't asked if they're wearing Spanx under their ball gown or not, we know who to thank. And if that's not a legacy to be proud of, I don't know what is.

 

Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/lady-gaga-meat-dress-mtv-vma-awards-shallow-b423422.html

 

No lies detected. Her IMPACT is undeniable  

OGH's continue to be found dead in a ditch buried under legendary cultural relevance of this tricon even a decade later 

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

God makes no Ms Steaks

[vyniildisk 12,689]

i know its mean to be triconic but everytime i see it i get that sensation like wanting to puke, its kinda gross huh

[MANiCURE1295 8,673]

I live in Portland, ME and went to that speech after high school classes were done for the day! The whole school was so excited and so many people went to Deering Oaks that day, it was an incredible site and one of my favorite Gaga moments of all time. What a ****ing woman 

[Suuus 5,632]

Am i the only one who noticed that they spelled katy Perry's name wrong

[VillainTina 570]

16 minutes ago, Dulo Peep said:

i know its mean to be triconic but everytime i see it i get that sensation like wanting to puke, its kinda gross huh

this lowkey sounds like a 2010 comment 

[Hybrid AT 78]

3 minutes ago, Suuus said:

Am i the only one who noticed that they spelled katy Perry's name wrong

OMG 

[vyniildisk 12,689]

2 minutes ago, VillainTina said:

this lowkey sounds like a 2010 comment 

the relevance that that has then

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

History making kween 

[Mr S 8,671]

Well said. Gaga's impact goes beyond music. A true pop culture icon.