The Most Over-The-Top Red Carpet Looks Ever

Madonna wore a very sheer Givenchy dress to the 2016 Met Gala, according to Elle. The gown exposed both her breasts and her butt, via cutouts. There were strategically placed straps of fabric to ensure that she didn't overly expose herself, but the dress was undoubtedly revealing. 

Following the event, the superstar posted on Instagram that the dress was "a political statement as well as a fashion statement." She said she chose the gown because women of a certain age are discouraged from expressing their sexuality and taking fashion risks. The dress choice was intended to reject any ageist or sexist opinions that persist.

Lady Gaga's had more than her fair share of show-stopping fashion moments on the red carpet, but the look she wore to the 2011 Grammy Awards show definitely ranks high on the list of her most over-the-top ever. 

Lady Gaga walked — or, rather, was carried — the red carpet in an egg. According to Billboard, Lady Gaga told Jay Leno during an appearance on his show, that it was a temperature controlled "vessel" in which she spent three days. She hatched out of the egg (or, rather, emerged from the vessel) onstage during her Grammy performance. The rubber dress she ultimately wore to accept her award that night was designed by Thierry Mugler, Billboard reported.

In yet another over-the-top red carpet look, Lady Gaga wore her infamous dress, headpiece, and shoes all made out of raw meat to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). According to Billboard, in an interview with Ellen Degeneres on her talk show, it wasn't meant to be a statement about animal rights, rather, it was a comment on the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and was in support of LGBTQ service members in the military. 

Gaga said, "If we don't stand up for what we believe in, if we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones." 

The dress has been preserved, according to Cosmopolitan UK, but doesn't look quite as fresh as it did when she rocked it at the show.

Toni Braxton's dress at the 2001 Grammy Awards might have been more "cape" or even "pieces of fabric" than dress. The gown, which EW reported was designed by Richard Tyler, featured two pieces of white or silvery fabric, held together (and kept from getting too revealing) by shimmery, glittery band at the hips. Braxton told People that the dress had built-in thong underwear, which helped keep it in place.

Baddie Winkle is 88 years old, but she doesn't let that stop her from taking fashion risks. According to Us Magazine, Winkle's "sparkly nude bodysuit" channeled Britney Spears' similar outfit from the music video from "Toxic," which was released in 2004. Winkle paired her daring look with a very sparkly cane, statement glasses and earrings, and a pair of starred, glitzy wedge booties. It'd be a little bit out-there for someone of any age, but that's just Baddie.

American singer Z LaLa, who is sometimes compared to Lady Gaga, went a little bit too over-the-top when choosing her outfit for the 2016 American Music Awards. She landed herself on EW's "Worst Dressed" list for her latex and mesh outfit and gelled, sculpted hairstyle. The look was a little bit Maleficent, which earned perhaps more than her fair share of criticism.

Rihanna absolutely stunned in her marigold-colored over-the-top 2015 Met Gala gown. As Cosmopolitan reported, the gown took over two years to make from start to finish. The brocade, embroidered, fur-lined frock is undoubtedly a little bit excessive, but is also one of her most beautiful Met Gala looks ever. 

Rihanna told Vanity Fair that it was designed by Chinese designer Guo Pei, which fit the theme of the event that year, which was "China: Through The Looking Glass." And on top of it all? Rihanna finished her look with a golden headpiece, which was the perfect pairing with her scene-stealing gown.

Sally Kirkland didn't end up on many "Best Dressed" lists for her look at the 2007 Academy Awards. Kirkland wore a somewhat bizarre, loopy, multicolored caftan-type dress, which the Hollywood Reporter compared to Sesame Street's Count Von Count and The New York Times compared to a destructive butterfly. According to The New York Times, the look was "made up by her cabala teacher." Regardless, it is most certainly an over-the-top look.

Nicki Minaj strutted her stuff on the red carpet at the 2011 Grammy Awards wearing a head-to-toe leopard print ensemble. Minaj joked with Us Magazine that the leopard-looking wig she was wearing on her head was her real hair and that if she hits a button her hair grows in height and if she hits another, it'll change color. It's only one of Minaj's most over-the-top Grammy Awards looks, but it's definitely not the last that makes a statement.

Wearing a gown with a high-low hemline before they were popular, Lady Gaga walked the red carpet at the 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony wearing an ethereal, frothy gown with a very high hemline in the front "and its own solar system," as Glamour reported. The gown, designed by Armani Prive, was futuristic and distinctly Gaga. True to herself, she wore a whole series of designs by Armani that night, but this iridescent one was the first of the evening.

Ora wasn't the only one who chose a black, sheer, full-body, long-sleeved number. Russian model Irina Shayk rocked a partially sheer, jewel-studded gown to the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscars Party. According to Business Insider, the gown was designed by Atelier Versace and was only sheer down one side. There were also jewel-studded tights that were incorporated into the design of the dress, which allowed Shayk to move around relatively comfortably. Talk about over-the-top.

According to POPSUGAR Australia, Da Brat's outfit that she wore to the 2003 BET Awards definitely qualifies as over-the-top. Her hair was styled into a high ponytail, secured with many multi-colored scrunchies. Her outfit was decorated with the characters from popular TV cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. The front of her outfit included a broken zipper, which ended up being a somewhat revealing neckline, and she wore white sneakers. She finished it all off with a SpongeBob lunchbox instead of a handbag. A full-body SpongeBob outfit on a grown woman? Over-the-top for sure.

Sandra Lee, who's written her own books on cooking and entertaining and starred in television shows and specials on the same subjects on Food Network, arrived at the 2014 Met Gala ready to walk the red carpet in a very voluminous gown. Lee posted on Twitter that her gown, which was a silvery gray and also featured matching gloves, was designed by Dara Lamb (via Bustle). The gown made many "Worst Dressed" lists, with many critics noting that the dress was enormous (likened to marshmallow fluff, even). It definitely turned heads.

It was perhaps Halle Berry's most famous red carpet dress ever. The dress she wore to the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony — where she took home the Best Actress award for her role in Monster's Ball — was a gown with a sheer, embroidered top and a draped skirt by Elie Saab, as reported by InStyle. The gown was gorgeous, but a bit over-the-top compared to what was normally worn to award shows in the early 2000s. There were some one-off over-the-top looks before that, and there were plenty after, but this gown is iconic.

Uma Thurman confused fans and critics alike when she appeared on the red carpet at the 2004 Academy Awards ceremony. Her dress, which, as InStyle reported, was designed by Christian Lacroix, drew comparisons to Swiss Miss. Ouch. Thurman told InStyle that it was a lovely gown, but she accidentally wore it wrong, which is why it looked the way it did on her on the red carpet. Not great. 

The pressure on celebrities to pick the right dress can be enormous and sometimes they get a little bit carried away. Not all dresses (or other outfits) that could be considered over-the-top, however, are bad choices. Some are stunning gowns, yet their volume, color, pattern, or decorations make them risky choices, enduring in public memory for many years to come.