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33 Of The Most Iconic Dresses Of All Time: From Grace Kelly's Wedding Gown To Rihanna's Met Gala Masterpiece
From Meghan Markle's wedding gown to Lady Gaga's meat dress these are the dresses you'll never forget
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There are dresses, and then there are truly iconic dresses - the ones that stay imprinted on your memory, long after they've left the red carpet or big screen. Sometimes it's because they are beautiful, sometimes it's because they are downright weird - but whatever the reason, these are the dresses that have earned their place in history.
From Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast At Tiffany's black dress to Jodie Comer's Killing Eve tulle wonder, these are the 20th and 21st Centuries' most important gowns.
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Lady Gaga's Judy Garland Tribute in Valentino Haute Couture, 2019
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Meghan Markle's royal wedding gown by Claire Waight Keller for Givenchy, 2018
The royal wowed the world in her impressively minimalist boat-necked wedding gown by Claire Waight Keller for Givenchy for her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018.
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Jodie Comer's pink tulle dress by Molly Goddard, 2018
Jodie Comer's character Villanelle in the BBC drama Killing Eve had a killer dress sense (see what we did there?), but the winning ensemble was, of course, this pink tulle creation by Molly Goddard which spawned a thousand Halloween costumes.
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Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' dress by Givenchy, 2016
One of the most celebrated elements of Beyoncé's one-hour visual album Lemonade was this gown.The Jonas Åkerlund-directed music video for 'Hold Up' saw the mother-of-three in a mustard-yellow Givenchy ruffled dress destroying cars with a baseball bat.
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Rihanna's yellow fur-trimmed gown by Guo Pei, 2015
For the 2015 Met Gala themed: 'China: Through the Looking Glass' the 'Diamonds' singer wore a fur-trimmed Guo Pei gown that was infamously made into a meme as an omelette, a pizza and a bowl of pasta.
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Lupita Nyong'o's Prada Oscars dress, 2014
Lupita Nyong'o landed her breakthrough role in 12 Years A Slave straight out of Yale, and marked a string of firsts when winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (the first African or Mexican actress to win the award and the first Kenyan actress to win an Oscar).
For the historic occasion, the actor chose a Prada, pleated, chiffon gown in Nairobi Blue, that not only wowed the world, becoming one of the most memorable Oscars gowns ever, but also went on to inspire Nyong'o when writing her children's book 'Sulwe'.
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Angelina Jolie's black thigh slit gown by Atelier Versace, 2012
When Angelina slipped into her velvet Atelier Versace gown for the 2012 Oscars, she probably wasn't expecting to become a meme later that night. But thanks to the gown's thigh-high split and Jolie's urge to show it off with the help of her right leg, that's exactly what happened.
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Kate Middleton's wedding dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, 2011
Kate Middleton became the Duchess of Cambridge in a couture gown by British fashion house Alexander McQueen. Taking cues from Grace Kelly's lace-sleeved wedding gown from almost half a century earlier, the dress sparked a surge in women buying similar styles for their big days.
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Kate Middleton's blue wrap dress by Issa, 2010
Cast your mind back to 2010 and you'll likely remember that November day when Prince Williams and Kate Middleton announced their engagement after almost a decade together. The day marked Middleton out as a style icon to be as she matched her beautiful sapphire ring to her Issa wrap dress. It, of course, sold out immediately, and even catalysed the downfall of the small fashion brand.
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Lady Gaga's meat dress by Franc Fernandez, 2010
The legendary meat dress. It may be disgusting, but it is by far one of the most memorable dresses of the 21st Century thus far.
Designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, Gaga has explained that it was all about sending a message: 'If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights pretty soon, we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And, I am not a piece of meat,' she said.
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Michelle Obama's bare-armed official portrait dress by Michael Kors, 2009
For her first official portrait as First Lady, Michelle Obama chose to wear this simple black Michael Kors dress with a string of pearls. Unfortunately, it wasn't the American designer's excellent cut that made news, but instead the history-making Obama's arms, which had become a talking point at the time.
During her husband's Presidential run, the lawyer and mother-of-two was both lambasted and praised for her choice to wear clothes that often exposed her toned arms. This Kors dress, and the hundreds she chose since, proved Obama paid no attention to her critics.
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Keira Knightley's green silk dress by Jacquelin Durran, 2007
Possibly one of the most iconic on-screen dresses of all time, costume designer Jacqueline Durran was responsible for the emerald green silk gown worn by Keira Knightley as Cecilia Tallis in a key part of 2007 Atonement.
Durran took elements of both 1920s and 1930s fashion (despite the fact the film is set in the 1930s and 1940s) to create a dress that illustrated the 'heightened perfection' of the story, which is told through the memories of Cecilia's younger sister, Bryony.
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Kate Hudson's yellow silk dress by Dina Bar-El, 2003
Dina Bar-El was the designer behind the buttercup yellow silk dress worn by Kate Hudson in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. With its plunging back and fluid silhouette, it quickly became many a girl's dream prom dress when the film was released in 2003.
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Halle Berry's mesh, flower embroidered and taffeta dress by Elie Saab, 2002
Elie Saab created the now-iconic gown that Halle Berry wore to the 2002 Oscars, the night she received the Best Actress award for her role in Monster's Ball. It featured a burgundy taffeta skirt with an embroidered net top.
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Julia Roberts' vintage Valentino dress, 2001
Roberts chose a nine-year-old dress from Valentino's Haute Couture archives to pick up her Best Actress Oscar for Erin Brockovich at the 2001 Oscars. The black gown featured white piping detailing and a tulle train.
Valentino Garavani himself has previously said it was the best moment of his career.
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Bjork's swan dress by Marjan Pejoski, 2001
Totally OTT but totally iconic, Bjork's 'swan dress' is red carpet fashion at its silliest. Designed by Macedonian designer Marjan Pejoski, it made headlines for weeks after the singer wore it to the 2001 Oscars.
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Jennifer Lopez's jungle-print dress by Versace, 2000
This dress actually launched Google Images. Really. Google CEO Eric Schmidt previously admitted as much, noting: '[Google users] wanted more than just text. This first became apparent after the 2000 Grammy Awards, where Jennifer Lopez wore a green dress that, well, caught the world's attention. At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen. But we had no surefire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: J.-Lo wearing that dress. Google Image Search was born.'
The Versace chiffon jungle-print gown with plunging neckline was pretty risqué at the time, and the singer and actor recently proved it is as relevant as ever. The now 51-year-old closed the SS20 Versace show in a close recreation of the gown.
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Sarah Jessica Parker's (as Carrie Bradshaw) newspaper print Dior dress, 2000 (pictured here in 2009)
This Dior newspaper print dress had a greater impact on pop culture than most. Not only did Sarah Jessica Parker wear it first in season three of Sex And The City (to ruin Natasha's lunch), and again in the second SATC film, but, the controversial collection from which is came from (John Galliano for Christian Dior's 'Hobo Chic' Couture and AW00) inspired Zoolander's tongue-in-cheek 'Derelicte' collection.
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Gwyneth Paltrow's pink gown by Ralph Lauren, 1999
By far one of the most memorable dresses to be worn to the Oscars, Gwyneth Paltrow's sugar pink gown, worn to the 1999 event, was created by Ralph Lauren. It's full taffeta skirt and simple spaghetti strap top was the perfect 1990s take on red carpet glamour.
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Geri Halliwell's Union Jack mini dress, 1997
Geri Halliwell thought the little black Gucci dress she had been given to wear for the Spice Girls' performance at the the 1997 BRIT Awards was too boring, so she asked her sister to stitch a Union Jack tea towel onto the front - and an icon was born.
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Elizabeth Hurley's safety pin dress by Versace, 1994
Liz Hurley totally upstaged then-boyfriend Hugh Grant at the premiere of his 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral when she decided to wear a black Versace gown held together by giant gold safety pins.
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Princess Diana's 'revenge dress' by Christina Stambolian, 1994
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Kate Moss's sheer metallic dress, 1993
The ultimate slip dress moment - Kate Moss at an Elite Model Agency party in 1993. Need we say more?
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Sharon Stone's white, sleeveless polo neck dress by Ellen Mirojnick, 1992
The tiny white polo neck dress worn by Sharon Stone in a pivotal scene in Basic Instinct is memorable for more than one reason (ahem...you know what we're talking about). Designed by Ellen Mirojnick, it was crafted to symbolise the unstoppable sex appaeal of Stone's murder-suspect character.
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Julia Roberts' red off-the-shoulder dress by Marilyn Vance, 1990
Who doesn't love Pretty Woman? No one. And part of its appeal is its glorious costumes, particularly seen on the pretty woman herself, Julia Roberts. The off-the-shoulder red dress worn with elbow-length white gloves when she attends the opera is by far the most memorable from the film, helped by that infamous jewellery box scene.
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Jessica Rabbit's cartoon red dress, 1988
It may not be an actual dress, but Jessica Rabbit's glittering red gown seen in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is up there with the best.
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Cher's black sequin outfit by Bob Mackie, 1986
Cher's longtime costume maker Bob Mackie created this outrageous outfit for the 1986 Oscars, at which the singer presented an award.
'I don't care if they like how I dress,' she said of the outfit. 'And if you could have seen it up close. It was cashmere, the beading was beautiful, they made earrings, and the headdress was exquisite. It was impeccable. It was beautifully done.'
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Princess Diana's wedding dress by The Emanuels, 1982
The vast silk Emanuels creation (that included no less than 10,000 pearls and a 25-foot train) that was Princess Diana's wedding dress inspired a generation of brides to wear meringue dresses. And its impact on bridalwear can still be seen today.
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Jackie Onassis's prink strapless gown by Christian Dior, 1962
The former First lady of the US wore a strapless pink Dior gown with white gloves to a dinner at the White House.
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Audrey Hepburn's as Holly Golightly black dress by Givenchy, 1961
You can't get more iconic than the black Hubert de Givenchy evening gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's, surely the ultimate little black dress (LBD).
Though it was designed by Givenchy, a firm friend of Hepburn's, it was altered by costume designer Edith Head so that it didn't show as much leg - it originally featured a thigh-high split on one side - which was considered inappropriate at the time.
In the film the dress is worn with a pearl necklace by Roger Scemama and paired with long black evening gloves.
Daisy Murray Digital Writer Daisy Murray is the Digital Writer at ELLE UK, writing articles on vintage shopping to Melania Trump and everything in between.
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Source: https://www.elle.com/uk/fashion/celebrity-style/articles/g30948/most-iconic-dresses-of-all-time-kate-middleton-jennifer-lopez-marilyn-monroe-geri-halliwell-grace-kelly/