Lady Gaga’s Fashion Evolution, From a Meat Dress to $30 Million Diamonds

Just days before the release of Gaga’s debut studio album, The Fame, the star posed backstage at MTV’s Total Request Live sporting the beginnings of her initial signature look. 

The star quickly become synonymous with platinum hair, bangs and structural looks. She would later add a bow made of hair to the look.  

Who can forget the bubble costume the star donned back in 2009? It was so famous it became a go-to DIY Halloween costume. 

The star made her avant-garde mark early on in her career with this look at the annual style awards. 

This hairy look became a standout one in the performer’s early years in the spotlight. 

Always one to put on a show, Gaga did so during this awards performance with a bodysuit that set off pyrotechnics. 

After showing up with Kermit the Frog, the star stepped out in a head to toe black ensemble with parts designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

The star took home her first MTV Video Music Award for “Best New Artist” that year while simultaneously cementing herself among the grandest fashion risk takers in this unforgettable red look. 

The star capped off 2009 with a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, donning a red latex Atsuko Kudo gown with puff sleeves and coordinating bejeweled red eye makeup. Needless to say, it was the singer’s take on a regal look. 

Gaga was the star to see on the red carpet at the 2010 Grammys, looking quite literally stellar in a celestial-esque design by Giorgio Armani Privé. 

In another avant-garde ensemble, the songstress was a towering figure in a white ruffled design by Francesco Scognamiglio paired with a grand blond wig and lace mask. 

Behold, one of Gaga’s most iconic looks to date: the meat dress by Franc Fernandez. 

While she was not nominated this year, Gaga still made a splash at the show by arriving on a mechanical horse in lavender Versace. 

Following the release of Artpop, the star embraced her new aesthetic inspired by Botticelli’s Venus. 

For her first red carpet appearance at the Met Gala, the triple threat donned a Balenciaga design inspired by the year’s theme, “China: Through the Looking Glass.”

By 2016, the star had taken on acting for the first time and channeled old Hollywood glamour in this black Versace gown. Her transformation into an actress was complete as she accepted the award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her performance in American Horror Story: Hotel. 

As a first-time Academy Award nominee, the star combined elegance with her signature boldness in a Brandon Maxwell jumpsuit-gown hybrid. 

Gaga went sans pants for the 2016 soirée, but did not shy away from sky-high heels and an equally voluminous blond ‘do to go with her Versace ensemble.   

In the midst of her Joanne album cycle, the star embraced a glamorous cowgirl aesthetic with a recurring wide-brimmed pink hat and this blue sequin jacket and pant set. 

The songstress turned heads as a glam rocker in this spiky, leather ensemble by Alex Ulichny. 

Inside the annual award show, Gaga took off a black overskirt to focus on her black lace bodysuit by Armani Privé. 

Ahead of her film debut in A Star Is Born, the triple threat embraced the movie’s motif by arriving to the Venice Film Festival very much looking like a star had been born and ripped straight off the silver screen. 

One of the biggest fashion moments of Gaga’s career came when she stepped out at the festival for a screening of A Star Is Born donning this one-of-a-kind pink, feathered Valentino Couture gown. 

Gaga epitomized modern glamour when she stepped out in Clare Waight Keller‘s haute couture silver Givenchy gown and matching cape coat. 

The actress kept fans guessing on her fashion throughout the press tour for the movie, opting for an Elizabethan-inspired Alexander McQueen gown to launch the film in London. 

The star paid homage to her predecessor Audrey Hepburn in a custom Valentino dress accessorized with glamorous Tiffany & Co. diamonds and colorful hair. 

The actress went home a first-time Oscar winner after donning a strapless structural black gown by Alexander McQueen on the red carpet, paired with a dazzling 128.54 carat Tiffany diamond worth an estimated $30 million.