Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus & More VMAs Fashion Moments We Still Talk About

Of course, the show isn’t just about the trophies. There’s also the performances, the tributes and the star-studded fashion. And over the years, there have been quite a few jaw-dropping looks.

Two words: Meat. Dress.

Ahead of the 2010 award show, “I was speaking with my artistic friends about if we wanted to make any statements while we were at the MTV Video Music Awards, and we did want to make a statement because at the time they were trying to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,'” Lady Gaga, up for two awards this year, recalled to British Vogue in 2021. “But we decided to do the meat dress because I thought to myself, ‘If you were willing to die for your country, what does it matter how you identify?'”

Designed by Franc Fernandez and “the brainchild of Haus of Gaga,” she continued, the meat dress was paired with a matching hat, pair of shoes and purse, which was famously held by Cher at the ceremony.

“It smelled like meat,” added Gaga, who recently welcomed a baby girl with fiancé Michael Polansky. “It was thrilling to wear. There’s a corset under this, but the corset was sewn to the meat. So, this is actually a garment. They didn’t just drape meat over me and cross their fingers.”

There was also the crystal Versace ensemble Miley Cyrus wore when she hosted the VMAs back in 2015.

“Miley felt strongly about it!” her stylist at the time Simone Harouche recounted to Vogue the following year. “It seemed to be the culmination of everything Miley wanted to project as host of the VMAs. It was commanding, provocative, and also a bit tongue and cheek.”

Although, she admitted putting the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s outfit together wasn’t easy. 

“We had to be very careful with the shading of nude tulle underneath the crystals,” Harouche noted. “We needed to make sure she was covered, but also needed to create the perfect ‘nude illusion.’”

As fans wait to see which looks go viral this year, look back at more bold outfits that once hit the MTV VMAs red carpet.