19 fashion faux pas celebrities have made at awards shows

June 2024 · 13 minute read
2022-04-04T17:54:51Z

Barbra Streisand didn't realize her jumpsuit was see-through under camera flashes at the Oscars in 1969.

Barbra Streisand attending the 41st Academy Awards in a sheer ensemble on April 14, 1969. Fotos International/Getty Images

In a monumental moment, singer and actress Barbra Streisand won the Oscar for best actress for "Funny Girl," her first ever film role. While her outfit is iconic today, at the time, the transparent Arnold Scaasi jumpsuit was scandalous.

"I didn't realize the outfit was so see-through. You couldn't tell that in the dressing room, only under the bright lights," she told InStyle.

Her look also ripped as she picked up her award.

Geri Halliwell revealed a bit too much when accepting an award with the Spice Girls at the Brit Awards in 1997.

The Spice Girls onstage at the Brit Awards when Gerri Hall's dress fell down on February 24, 1997. Mirrorpix/Getty Images

At the 1997 Brit Awards, the Spice Girls gave an iconic performance of "Wannabe." While Geri Halliwell's Union flag dress may have been the most memorable look of the night, she also wore a Jessica Rabbit-esque dress. 

The girl group won British video of the year for "Say You'll Be There." An excited Halliwell had her cleavage on full display, and when she lifted her arms, the dress slipped, revealing a nipple.

Halliwell later told the Daily Mail that her satin shapewear, which could also be seen, made her dress fall.

In 1997, Jenny McCarthy unknowingly wore a Valentino gown backwards at the Academy Awards.

Jenny McCarthy attending the 69th Academy Awards in a dress worn backwards on March 24, 1997. Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images

Jenny McCarthy wore a stunning mauve halter dress to the 1997 Academy Awards … but she made the faux pas of wearing it backwards. While not quite noticeable, the back of the dress (worn forward) was far less intricate in detail than the front.

McCarthy remembered the chest being surprisingly tight. She told Us Weekly in 2014 that after she thanked Valentino for her gown, the designer told her that she was wearing the dress backwards.

"Needless to say, I've never been dressed by Valentino again," she said.

Rose McGowan made the 1998 VMAs red carpet her own in an empowering and revealing dress.

Rose McGowan attending the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards in a revealing dress on September 10, 1998. Barry King/Getty Images

At the 1998 MTV VMAs, Rose McGowan stepped out in one of the most iconic "naked" dresses ever. In a fully sheer sequined mesh dress with nothing but strings holding it together, and with a leopard-print thong underneath, her body was on full display.

The daring look made waves, and McGowan faced criticism for the choice.

"It was kind of hard," she told Yahoo Entertainment in 2020 of the response. "I hadn't really ever dealt with global media shaming. But it prepared me for later on it happening to me a whole bunch."

In a 2018 interview with Dr. Oz, McGowan revealed she was making a statement with the dress.

"That was my first public appearance after being sexually assaulted [by Harvey Weinstein]. I was like, 'Is this what you want?'" she said, MTV reported. "That was a political statement."

Lindsay Lohan flashed paparazzi with a skin-toned slip and black underwear at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards.

Lindsay Lohan attending the MTV Movie Awards and flashing her underwear on June 1, 2008. Ian West/PA Images/Getty Images

Showing up as a presenter for the MTV Movie Awards, Lohan unfortunately suffered a wardrobe malfunction. Posing on the red carpet, a gust of wind blew up her minidress, revealing a skin-toned slip or lining and black underwear.

John Travolta wore casual denim to the prestigious Academy Awards in 2010.

John Travolta attending the 82nd Academy Awards and doing an outfit change on March 7, 2010. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Travolta tried making the Academy Awards casual in 2010. Despite it being a black-tie event, at one point he changed out of his suit pants and into a pair of blue jeans that weren't fitting for the occasion.

Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, told Access Hollywood in 2010 that she nudged him to wear jeans.

"It was an Armani tux. It always fits so well but I just thought [jeans] would be cool," she said, adding, "He's John Travolta; he can wear jeans with his tux."

Lady Gaga's 2010 VMAs meat dress was worn for more more than just shock value — it was also a political statement.

Lady Gaga attending the MTV Video Music Awards in a raw meat dress on September 12, 2010. Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Lady Gaga showed up in a raw meat dress, headpiece, and boots to the 2010 VMAs. The singer won eight awards that night, and she accepted them in her meat dress.

Many were shocked by the bloody-looking outfit. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a statement that said, in part, "Someone should whisper in her ear that there are more people who are upset by butchery than who are impressed by it — and that means a lot of young people will not be buying her records if she keeps this stuff up."

The next day in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Gaga said the dress symbolized her support to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which allowed gay people to serve in the military as long as they were closeted.

"If we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones," she said, as per Billboard.

She added, "It's certainly no disrespect to anyone that's vegan or vegetarian."

Hayden Panettiere's sheer dress showed off her nipple covers at the Golden Globes red carpet in 2011.

Hayden Panettiere attending 68th Golden Globe Awards in a sheer gown on January 16, 2011. Lester Cohen/Getty Images

Since nipple covers are a great style hack, when they're on display, they fail at their job.

Hayden Pannettiere wore a dress with a bodice so sheer that camera lights at the 2011 Golden Globes made it see-through. This revealed the actress's pasties. While she wore them to conceal, they became quite distracting.

Jennifer Lawrence's voluminous dress caused an iconic fall at the 2013 Academy Awards.

Jennifer Lawrence attending the 85th Academy Awards and falling on February 24, 2013. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

After falling in a too-tight gown at the SAG Awards just months earlier, Jennifer Lawrence apparently didn't learn her lesson ahead of the Academy Awards in 2013. While the actress had the length of her Christian Dior dress cut, it still didn't prevent her from tripping over the voluminous skirt on her way to accept her best actress award for "Silver Linings Playbook."

Lawrence told W Magazine, "As I started to walk up the stairs and the fabric from my dress tucked under my feet, I realized my stylist had told me, 'Kick, walk, kick, walk.' You are supposed to kick the dress out while you walk," as per Vulture.

At the 2014 VMAs, Nicki Minaj's dress wouldn't zip up so she had to hold it to avoid flashing everyone.

Nicki Minaj performing at the MTV Video Music Awards when her costume busted open on August 24, 2014. Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/Getty Images

Minaj suffered a wardrobe malfunction during her performance of "Bang Bang" at the 2014 VMAs. The singer was seen clutching her minidress while rapping.

Weeks later on Ellen DeGeneres' show, Minaj said that she had a quick costume change between her performance of "Anaconda" and "Bang Bang" because she didn't want her green costume to clash with Jessie J's and Ariana Grande's black and white looks.

"Right before it was time for me to walk out, they went to zip it up and nothing. And right there I thought I died," she said.

She also revealed that she wasn't wearing undergarments, so she was clinging on for life.

Madonna took a tumble when her heavy cape was tied too tightly around her neck at the 2015 Brits.

Madonna performing at the Brit Awards and falling on February 25, 2015. Samir Hussein/Getty Images

At the 2015 Brit Awards, Madonna performed "Living for Love" and had a startling fall down the stairs when backup dancers pulled her cape. Shocked, the singer stopped singing but quickly got up and fussed with the ties around her neck before removing the cape and continuing her performance.

After being told to start further back onstage than rehearsed, the singer told Joss Stone, "Everybody was worried that my cape was going to slide off because it's quite heavy so they tied it really tight around my neck," as per Rolling Stone.

When she couldn't undo the ties, she said, "I had a choice; I could either be strangled or fall with the cape, and I fell."

The singer said she suffered whiplash from the wardrobe malfunction.

Miley Cyrus accidentally flashed when she was filmed changing into her final look backstage at the 2015 VMAS.

Miley Cyrus hosted the MTV Video Music Awards and flashed the camera before changing into this look on August 30, 2015. Jeff Kravitz/MTV1415/Getty Images

When Miley Cyrus hosted the 2015 MTV VMAs, she wore 11 risqué looks. But despite the quirky and revealing outfits, her wardrobe malfunction happened sans clothes. Changing into her final-performance costume, she was filmed backstage, holding a curtain in front of her body.

When a stagehand went to walk behind her, Cyrus slightly lowered the curtain and her bare breast was briefly exposed on live television.

When the camera cut away from her, Cyrus was heard asking, "Oh, what's happening?" before she realized and confirmed out loud that she had flashed her breast.

At the 2016 People's Choice Awards, Leslie Mann broke Dakota Johnson's zipper onstage.

Dakota Johnson onstage at the 42nd People's Choice Awards with her top unzipped on January 6, 2016. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

When Johnson went to accept the favorite dramatic movie actress award at the People's Choice Awards, she suffered a minor wardrobe malfunction … at the hands of someone else. When presenter Leslie Mann hugged Johnson, it didn't look out of the ordinary, but then both actresses had to hold the back of Johnson's top together.

Johnson laughed as she told the audience, "Leslie just broke my dress!"

She added, "Well, it's not like nobody here hasn't already seen my boobs," referring to her film "Fifty Shades of Grey," for which she won the award.

Chrissy Teigen laughed it off when her 2016 VMAs dress revealed her crotch at some angles.

Chrissy Teigen attending the American Music Awards and flashing her crotch on November 20, 2016. Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Teigen's Yousef Akbar gown had extremely high leg slits, which were only held together by gold safety pins. The waist-grazing slits would make one assume Teigen was going commando, and when she posed showing off her profile, that was confirmed.

Teigen laughed off her reveal and mocked herself in an Instagram post the next day, writing, "Apologies to anyone harmed mentally or physically by my hooha."

But still proud of her look, she tagged her favorite laser hair removal service, Sev Laser Aesthetics.

Sarah Hyland's shapewear peeked through her dress cutout at the 2017 Emmys.

Sarah Hyland attending the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards with her Spanx showing on September 17, 2017. John Shearer/Getty Images

Hyland made a fashion faux pas when her black Spanx shapewear peeked out of her gown's cutout on the 2017 Emmys red carpet. At one point she noticed and with an embarrassed, surprised face, lifted the seam of her dress.

In an Instagram post, she showed the fashion blunder and joked, "Kickstarting Fall off with a PSL dress and a splash of Spanx."

Lily-Rose Depp wore a fully sheer and revealing look at the 2020 BAFTAs.

Lily-Rose Depp attending the 73rd British Academy Film Awards in a sheer dress on February 2, 2020. NurPhoto/Getty Images

Attending the 2020 BAFTAs as a presenter, Lily-Rose Depp wore a Chanel lace catsuit and sheer dress overlay. While her body may have been completely covered in fabric, it was a sheer fabric that revealed Depp's bare chest.

It's possible that Depp — one of the faces of Chanel — knew just how sheer the off-the-runway lace ensemble was.

Selena Gomez had a wardrobe malfunction and made a fashion faux pas all in the same night at the 2022 SAG Awards.

Selena Gomez attending the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards after falling (left) and presenting barefoot (right) on February 27, 2022. Jay L. Clendenin/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Gomez has amazing award-show style; however, she couldn't keep her footing in a pair of Christian Louboutin heels at the 2022 SAG Awards. Walking down the red carpet, her heels broke and the singer fell to her knees, with a security guard catching her. 

Later in the night, to help present a supporting actress award alongside her "Only Murders in the Building" costar Martin Short, Gomez tiptoed onto the stage barefoot, a major fashion faux pas.

Posting photos of her look on Instagram, the singer wrote, "I couldn't keep my heels on but I did manage to take a couple selfies."

During the 2022 Oscars ceremony, cameras had to censor Venus Williams' exposed nipple.

Venus Williams attended the 94th Academy Awards and flashed the camera on air on March 27, 2022. Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Williams wore a daring Elie Saab gown to the 2022 Oscars to celebrate the movie based off her life, "King Richard."

When its star Will Smith thanked the Williams sisters during his best actor acceptance speech, the broadcast cut to an official Oscars logo screen before flashing back to Venus and Serena Williams.

Venus Williams had her arm over her chest, whether out of emotion or to intentionally cover herself, but her nipple was still partially seen from her daring dress' neckline.

Most recently, Doja Cat and SZA gave a sweet acceptance speech at the 2022 Grammys ... but only after some last-minute wardrobe predicaments.

SZA (left) and Doja Cat (right) accepting the best pop duo/group performance award for “Kiss Me More” during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards on April 3, 2022. Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

At the 2022 Grammys, Doja Cat and SZA took the win for best pop duo or group performance for "Kiss Me More."

The camera caught SZA hobbling from her seat with crutches and a tulle train far too long to walk in safely, especially in high heels. She took short, quick steps and needed the assistance of Lady Gaga to bustle up her train so she wouldn't trip.

Explaining her crutches, SZA told the Grammys' media room, "I fell out a bed right before it was time to leave and get ready for this," as per Billboard.

Eventually, Doja Cat was seen trekking from the audience, throwing what looked like a bracelet before telling the audience she's never gone to the bathroom so quickly before. She then reached down to her crotch to readjust the bodysuit under her semi-sheer Versace dress. 

Perhaps because she had to rush back from the bathroom, her dress was also not lying properly on her chest.

Still, she took it all in her stride, making jokes on her ill-timed restroom break and ultimately giving an emotional speech.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonynrdKhoKimXZuutsSMqZisZZOauaau0aKrop2jYq64rdGdZKygn6zA