Cara Delevingne wore a silver mesh dress with trompe l’oeil embroidery. Photo / Getty Images
Cara Delevingne wore a silver mesh dress with trompe l’oeil embroidery. Photo / Getty Images
Super-sheer gowns have appeared on the red carpet since Kate Moss in the 1990s, but the “sans pants” look takes it to a whole new level.
Last night model Cara Delevingne made a return to the red carpet after a significant hiatus in her signature provocative style. While attendingthe London premiere of David Attenborough’s latest documentary film, Ocean, at the Royal Festival Hall, the model and actress chose a silver mesh dress. So far, so Cara. Yet there was one surprising detail of this look – the clever trompe l’oeil embroidery detailing where her knickers would be.
“We have Kate Moss back in the 1990s to thank for the super sheer dress over a black knicker look,” explains red carpet stylist Catherine Hayward. “It’s risqué; it’s revealing. And, of course, it helps if you have a trim figure. But with a chic tailored dark jacket thrown nonchalantly over the top, everything ‘important’ is covered. It’s implied rather than overt sexiness. She looks confident and that’s always attractive.”
English supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell at the Elite Model Agency party for the Look of the Year Contest at the Hilton Hotel, London, September 1993. Photo / Getty Images
Cara’s look was perhaps a more palatable way of tapping into a trend that has been everywhere of late: a sheer entrejambe (or less romantically, crotch). Unsurprisingly, it was prevalent on Monday’s Met Gala red carpet. After all, the first Monday in May often heralds an influx of sheer dresses. Indeed, some of the most famous gowns in its history have been so-called “naked dresses”, from Cher’s 1974 Bob Mackie creation (often credited as the first naked dress), to Beyoncé’s jaw-dropping Givenchy bodysuit in 2015 and Kim Kardashian’s diamond-dripping Mugler design in 2019.
Beyoncé wore an attention-grabbing Givenchy bodysuit to the 2015 Met Gala. Photo / Getty Images
Kim Kardashian in a diamond-dripping Mugler design on the 2019 Met Gala red carpet. Photo / Getty Images
This year’s iteration was no different, yet it was the sheer knickers that raised eyebrows. In some ways, it’s no surprise. After all, in recent seasons, we’ve had the trend for sheer skirts with visible big knickers making its way on to the red carpet. Kick-started by Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent and Chloé, it has been championed by A-listers including Florence Pugh, Dua Lipa and Victoria Beckham. Yet this year’s red carpet didn’t showcase Bridget Jones-esque bloomers through a mesh skirt – it put lacy knickers front and centre, or indeed, no knickers at all.
Dua Lipa attends the World Premiere of "Barbie" at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on July 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty Images
One of the most controversial looks of the evening was that worn by K-pop star Lisa, of Blackpink fame, recently catapulted to even further global stardom thanks to her breakout role in the third season of The White Lotus. Wearing a piece custom-made by one of the night’s co-chairs, Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton, her black beaded crop jacket with tights and pants probably wouldn’t have caused much of a stir if it wasn’t for what was embroidered on to her knickers: the face of civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
Lisa appears to wear underwear with faces on. Photo / Getty Images
Going one step further was the actor Halle Berry, who forewent underwear on her lower half altogether. Her daring LaQuan Smith gown featured sheer vertical stripes, which meant that whenever she moved, she risked showing more than she perhaps wanted to, drawing outrage from commenters online who deemed her look offensive and disappointing.
Halle Berry attending the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit Gala 2025 in New York, USA. Photo / Getty Images
In many ways, the evolution of the sheer trend is unsurprising. After all, fashion has always sought to find new ways to shock – as well as to highlight women’s body parts. It’s why corsets were so popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, or why an ankle was considered the height of erotica in the Victorian period. In more recent history, we’ve had Alexander McQueen’s bumster jeans, Tom Ford for Gucci’s G-string, and even the posterior-peekaboo in Zoe Kravitz’s Yves Saint Laurent dress at the Vanity Fair Oscars party.
