There are some dresses so iconic that they outlive pretty much anything else that the wearer does for the rest of the time. Take Liz Hurley. Which are you more likely to remember: her Versace safety-pin dress (va va voom) or her turn in Bedazzled? Yep – thought so.
And it seeems you’re not the only ones. Because we recently discovered that some outfits are so legendary that they must be preserved in digital history by Wikipedia. Yup, that’s right, there are frocks that Jimmy Wales has signed off. Sort of. Wikipedia bosses insist on reminding us that entries are written by a ‘global community of unpaid volunteers’ of which there are more than you can possibly imagine. An article about Audrey Hepburn’s black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, for example, has been written by 40 editors – and edited 82 times.
But judging by how many iconic fashion dresses have their own page, it’s far to say that Wikipedia’s contributors (know as Wikipedians) really, really care about style. The positive upshot of this is that what may seem like pithy entries about frocks are actually going someway to redress a cultural gender balance – an issue which is being proactively addressed across Wikipedia in general right now. ‘In the last tow to three years among Wikipedians there has been a significant increase in attention paid to topics that have been historically under-represented on Wikipedia,’ Wikimedia’s Jay Walsh told The Debrief when we asked him about the profiliation of entries dedicated to red carpet dresses.* ‘*It’s well-known that Wikipedia has a real gender gap issue, with only 15% to 20% of contributors being women. In the last two years there have been major efforts around the world involving both men and women to address that gender gap, and to examine the presumed major gap in coverage of topics involving women – fashion is definitely one of those topics and looking at these iconic dresses is a great way to get people, and particularly more women, interested in the topics.’
He’s right. Here’s your run-down of the most epoch-making frocks that have made the Wikipedia cut. And by that, we mean that someone, somewhere, has seen that particular outfit deserving of a Wikipedia ode. Think any are missing? Get scribbling.
Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress
Designed by Argentine designer Franc Fernandez (why has he not followed this up with some sausage trousers, or a salmon bra?) Gaga’s infamous raw flank steak dress had a cow(led) neck and was stitched on to her without even a single fitting. Given the accolade of ‘top fashion statement of 2010’ by TIME magazine, the bovine frock is now on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, after the museum paid a taxidermist $6,000 to preserve it as a type of of beef jerky. From its inception the dress was instantly divisive: Morrissey, a staunch vegetarian, said that he could accept the dress as long as it was a social or a political statement, but not if it was just a ‘loony’ idea. Which it totally wasn’t – according to Gaga (or at least Wikipedia), her raw steak dress highlighted her distaste for the US military’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy. Nope, us neither.
Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy Dress
Is there anything chicer than Audrey Hepburn in a black sheath Givenchy dress in 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s? The original LBD, a very interesting fact revealed by Wikipedia is that this dress wasn’t actually by Givenchy. The fashion house originally designed two copies of a short-length black dress for Audrey to wear, but when she took it to Paramount Studios they deemed it too short (lol) and the dress, which then appeared in the film, was that Givenchy dress re-designed by a costumier, Edith Head. The original dress was destroyed, sadly, but one of the two Givenchy dresses went on to be worn by Natalie Portman on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in 2006, before being sold via Christie’s for £467,000. Yeesh.
Jennifer Lopez’s Green Versace Dress
Worn by J-Lo to the 2000 Grammy Awards in her super humble Jenny From The Block days – ‘It was a nice dress. I had no idea it was going to become such a big deal,’ she said afterwards, befuddled – this exotic Versace gown was bought for $16,000. According to Wikipedia, Geri Halliwell wore it to the NRJ Music Awards a month before Jen did, but ‘she failed to receive the same amount of global attention as Lopez did’. This makes us feel sad. Some insider secrets include: the crotch was ‘citrine’studded’ (?), J-Lo was wearing nude-tone shorts underneath the front split, and she was only able to keep the dress on with the help of some double-sided tape. Not overly surprised about that last nugget.
Elizabeth Hurley’s Safety-Pin Versace Dress
Liz, Liz, LIZ. She went all low-key about this holy cow of a dress by claming that ‘the dress was a favour from Versace because I couldn’t afford to buy one’, but there could not have been a better bosomy statement to make than a dress consisting of nanny’s sewing kit and a teensy bit of Donatella’s lycra curtain from her boudoir. Worn to the 1994 premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral (both a cinematic and Grantian heyday) the dress, according to Wikipedia, was ‘largely responsible for launching Hurley onto the global media stage’. Funnily enough, Lady Gaga wore this dress to meet Donatella in 2012. Wait, is there like a club that all the Wikipedians join so they can swap dresses?
Gwyneth’s Paltrow’s Ralph Lauren Oscars Dress
How many gifs have you watched of Gwynnie weeping into her sugar pink Ralph Lauren gown, as she accepts her little golden figurine for Shakespeare In Love at the 1999 Oscars? Apparently, Gwyneth – bearing a stark resemblance to Grace Kelly – is credited for bringing pink back in fashion, after wearing this dress. Blimey, why didn’t Meryl mention that in The Devil Wears Prada? Another Wikipedian Frock Wearer to become to date Ben Affleck at one point or another (is there something in the water?), Gwyneth also wore $160,000 worth of Harry Winston jewels – a gift from her parents – with the dress. Wha? That’s some parental gift.
Geri Halliwell’s Union Jack Dress
We defy anyone to look at this picture of Ginger Spice on stage at the BRITs in 1997 and not feel an engulfing sense of nostalgic longing to be young again and riddled with excitement about the latest Spice Girls single, fresh out on cassette tape. This dress (or, given that it doesn’t cover her regulation navy undercrackers, ‘long tank top’) holds the Guiness World Record for the most expensive piece of popstar clothing dealt at auction (it sold for £41,320 – Geri gave the proceeds to a children’s cancer care charity) and has pretty much come to personify Girl Power in dress form. Believe it or not, Geri was actually given a black Gucci dress to wear to the awards, but she thought it was too boring (it does sound pretty Posh), instead opting for the flag. For the Spice Girls’ 2007 reunion tour, Roberto Cavalli made Geri a new Union Jack dress, out of rhinestones and Swarovski crystals. Wasn’t nearly as badass as the original, though.
Bjork’s Swan Dress
Designed by Macedonian designer Marjan Pejoski, Bjork’s swan included a full-body stocking which was covered with a giant swan, whose neck was wrapped around her with its head and beak resting on her boobs. This creation of 2001 is, if you think about it, pretty much the Icelandic singer in dress form – ie bonkers. One of the most accurate snipes came from Jay Carr of The Boston Globe, who wrote that her swan dress ‘made her look like a refugee from the more dog-eared precincts of provincial ballet’. Joan Rivers rather bitchily remarked that Bjork should be put into an asylum. Tsk, Joansie. That said, at the ceremony, Bjork did mimic laying an egg on the red carpet. Good god we love her.
Marilyn Monroe’s White Dress
FYI, Marilyn’s pink dress of the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes also has its own entry. But it’s her ivory cocktail dress of 1955, with a halterneck bodice and softly pleated skirt that created one of the most iconic images of the last century: Marilyn standing above an air vent with the dress pluming blowing up to almost reveal her knickers. Many years later, Anna Nicole Smith would famously replicate this very image. Supposedly designer by Hollywood costumier William Travilla, it has also been claimed that Travilla in fact bought it straight off the rack. Quelle horreur! The wily Travilla obviously denied this, though. In 2011 the dress sold at auction for $5.6 million. Which makes us rather want to say to Marilyn’s then husband, Joe DiMaggio, who hated the dress: In. Your. FACE.
Kate Middleton’s Issa Engagement Dress
Oh hello, least surprising entry to this list. Let’s be honest, this silk jersey Issa number was always going to make it into the Wikipedian celebrity frock canon. It made a million royalists weep and set Kate up as a bona fide style icon, from whom the attention has not yet waned one iota. As Issa’s unofficial brand ambassador, Kate’s sapphire (to match her engagement ring, natch) wrap dress with an RRP of £385 sold out within 24 hours. A short-sleeved replica was produced by Tesco’s Florence + Fred line post haste – retailing at £16 it sold out within an hour on the website – and Kate was credited with bringing back the colour blue. We could argue that blue has historically been a major player on the colourwheel, but we don’t want to sound like killjoys or anything.
Cindy Crawford’s Red Versace Dress
So much Versace on this list – which shouldn’t really be surprising given the fashion house’s history as a controversial-statement-dress purveyor. Cindy wore this to accompany her then husband-to-be Richard Gere (we totally forgot they got hitched) to the 1991 Oscars. With a plunging neckline and back-combed hair (so early 90s) this vermillion gown was a befitting choice for one of the original supers. Sadly, Crawford and Gere did not last 4eva, but the sexiness of this dress most definitely did.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.