These days, the "naked dress" is a red carpet staple, but in 1974 it still had the power to shock. Especially so when said dress is made from an "outlawed" French fabric, and when it's been literally sprayed onto the body of one of the most beautiful women in showbusiness. Regardless, the dress' designer Bob Mackie told The New Yorker that he was surprised by people's reactions to the ballsy gown at the Met Gala, "I didn't know it was going to cause such a hullabaloo," he said. But it did and it continues to be legendary.
The dress notoriously left little to the imagination, even letting nipples and the curves of Cher's breasts be visible beneath the sheer fabric. Speaking to Vogue, she speculated that the banned nature of the fabric was at the core of "what was shocking for a lot of people," and that she didn't feel provocative. When asked by a man at the Met Gala how it felt to be naked at the event she cooly responded, "I feel just fine" (via Vogue).
Following the event, Time magazine invited Cher to wear the dress for the cover, at a time when the magazine "reserved its covers for world leaders or someone who invented something important" Mackie told Vogue. "Newsstands sold out of it almost immediately," he said, noting that "Some cities even banned it from being sold." But arguably Cher and Mackie did invent something important: The "naked dress" continues to wow to this day.
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