By Jessica Wedemeyer
9:00pm PDT, Mar 28, 2023
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In honor of Lady Gaga's 38th birthday on March 28, 2023, we're taking a look back at the wildest, most over-the-top and controversial fashion moments from early in her career, starting with this look…
During a 2009 MTV VMAs afterparty in New York City, Lady Gaga kept things relatively tame as far as her dress was concerned, pairing an iridescent white sheath with a sheer skirt and sheer panels down the sides with sparkly black booties. But never one to settle for "tame," the pop star topped off her look with a massive lace-embellished headpiece featuring strands of pearls cascading down her forehead. It made us think of how a fly might look on its wedding day…
Now keep reading for more…
MORE: Famous couples with major age gaps
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The bubble dress! Lady Gaga donned one of her earliest truly iconic looks — a skin-toned bodysuit covered in bubbles — during a 2009 concert in Sydney, Australia.
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Lady Gaga wore a bodysuit comprised of what appeared to be human hair — and a matching wide-brim hat! — during a 2011 outing in London. She completed her look with chic shades, leather gloves and sky-high pumps.
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Lady Gaga left censors scrambling when she accepted an award during the 2009 MTV VMAs in New York City while sporting a lacy red long-sleeve dress that was completely sheer and completed her look — which covered her face and head — with matching red gloves and an extra-tall hat.
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A pearl-adorned Lady Gaga looked like she'd just climbed out of an oyster at the 2010 amfAR New York Gala in New York City. She paired studded briefs and a matching bra with textured booties, fishnet tights, a moto jacket and a biker hat. There weren't just pearl-like balls on her clothes, though — they also covered swaths across her legs, abdomen and face. Let's take a closer look…
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Lady Gaga wore tiny pearls glued to her face over a layer of white makeup.
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Lady Gaga forgot to put on pants before she left her hotel in Paris in 2009. Instead, she wore simple black briefs with a mostly open jacket, giant shades, a biker hat, fishnet tights and sky-high pumps cleverly disguised as pointe shoes.
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This look had us clutching our pearls! Lady Gaga channeled a nun in a habit-inspired long-sleeve black bodysuit with a white hood during a 2008 visit to MTV's "Total Request Live" studios in New York City.
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Iconic! Lady Gaga signaled her superstar status by donning this celestial-inspired Armani Privé getup — complete with mind-boggling embellished platform shoes — during the 2010 Grammys in Los Angeles. For added effect, she carried a spiky silver sculpture on the red carpet.
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Lady Gaga wore another over-the-top ensemble during the 2010 Grammys in Los Angeles: a rhinestone-encrusted minidress over an embellished bodysuit with a spectacularly wild lighting bolt-shaped headpiece.
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It was quite the hairy situation for Lady Gaga during the 2010 Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago: She sported a flesh-tone bodysuit covered in what appeared to be human hair … complete with a tuft trailing from her pelvis.
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Lady Gaga really loved see-through structured dresses back in the day! During a 2009 outing in London, she wore one with side cut-outs and a belt. Not that we were paying attention to anything other than her feathered antler-adorned cap…
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Lady Gaga donned an over-the-top steampunk-inspired look — a lacy dress with a corset belt and a feathered collar that cradled her gold mask-adorned face — during the 2009 MTV VMAs in New York City. She completed her bold look with a lacy asymmetrical hat.
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Lady Gaga had a tough time with the bustier top of her Mugler look — which was comprised of a minidress featuring an extravagant asymmetrical tulle train over a sheer, long-sleeve bodysuit — at the 2011 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York City. (Naturally, she posed up a storm with her top half totally exposed!) But you can't even see the wildest part of her getup from this angle…
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The things we do for fashion… Lady Gaga could barely walk in the bizarre sky-high Mugler booties she wore during the 2011 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York City.
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Lady Gaga really courted controversy during a 2009 performance in Sydney, Australia: She donned a black-and-white jumpsuit featuring negative tabloid news coverage of celebrities including Princess Diana, Oprah, Usher and Britney Spears. She also wore a fan of folded newspapers across her chest.
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During a 2013 press conference for her "Artpop" album in Tokyo, Lady Gaga looked like she'd escaped from a Scottish asylum in a tartan jumpsuit resembling a straitjacket that gave way to tentacles engulfing her body.
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Lady Gaga really leaned into the human-hair look! During Billboard's 2009 Women In Music event, she wore a sheer blue sheath with long black locks cascading down the bust. (If you look closely, you can see the fishnet bodysuit she wore underneath.)
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Lady Gaga famously accessorized with prop teacups in a nod to British culture during her first big press tour of London in 2009. She completed her "Mad Tea Party"-inspired look with a black-and-white fascinator and Queen of Hearts-style lipstick.
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Lady Gaga wore this bizarre getup — super-short shorts and a matching bralette over a long-sleeve button-down and silver fishnet tights — during the 2009 ACE Awards in New York City. She completed her look with sky-high platform pumps, a black headpiece with a lacy veil and a massive platinum blonde wig.
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In 2010, Lady Gaga stepped out for dinner at Mr Chow in London in another structured see-through dress. We couldn't take our eyes off her bedazzled lobster-shaped headpiece … or her bracelet, which featured a small yellow hand resembling a chicken claw.
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In 2011 — a year after she enraged PETA with her meat dress — Lady Gaga channeled Cruella de Vil in an extremely extra black-and-white look at an airport in Sydney, Australia. She wore a floor-length white gown with a black corset-style belt and black opera gloves and completed her look by rocking two-tone pigtail buns: one platinum blonde and one black.
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Lady Gaga brought her passion for sky-high, over-the-top footwear to the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto. She completed her look — a blue-and-black coat dress that left her lacy black bra exposed, colorful print leggings and sheer blue gloves — with studded booties.
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At the 2009 V61 by V Magazine launch party in New York City, Lady Gaga wore a sheer lacy red jumpsuit with an asymmetrical ruffled neckline. She completed her look with a lacy red choker, a swath of the same red lace across her face and a sun-shaped headpiece made from what appeared to be human hair.
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Lady Gaga wore another revealing all-lace ensemble at a 2010 party in London celebrating the launch of the MAC AIDS Fund's then-new Viva Glam Campaign. Her look consisted of a bodysuit with structured shoulders, full-coverage briefs and tights — all in different types of black lace — with black patent leather boots, black leather gloves, a massive floral headpiece and a floral-embellished black mask.
