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 attending the 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.”
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.
