27 Years Ago, Halle Berry Freed The Nip In A Sheer Dress

Trends have always been cyclical, ebbing in and out of popularity in waves. These days, especially with the TikTok “-core” phenomenon, where users seemingly dub new aesthetics every few weeks, fads enjoy even less time in the spotlight. One style, however, is showing no signs of slowing down, outliving most styles that dominated these past few years. If you thought of the “naked dress,” you guessed it right.

For a trend deemed so polarizing, the look surprisingly has a chokehold on the fashion industry at large. Season after season, designers release the sheerest, nakedest ensembles on runways. (Recent fashion week runs are a great example.) Similarly, designers’ muses — aka Hollywood’s favorite celebrities — also consistently rock the look on red carpets and various events, normalizing baring body.

Despite the controversial look’s recent normalization, one star has been rocking the look for decades. And that fashion-forward icon is Halle Berry.

Halle’s Nip-Baring Moment

In 1998, the X-Men star attended a Rolling Stones party celebrating the end of their tour. Held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Berry rolled up to the shindig in a form-fitting number.

Her dress’ silhouette was relatively simple. It was sleeveless with a round neck and a knee-hitting hemline. That’s the extent of the look’s “simplicity.” The blue/gray item was utterly bedazzled, featuring sparkly blue gemstones tacked onto the fabric, following the shape of a cross — one on her torso and another on her skirt. It was also completely risqué. The fabric was utterly diaphanous and completely spotlighted her lack of a brassiere underneath. She completed the look with silver slides in a similar color palette.

The look was iconic for several reasons, one being how shockingly daring it was in the context of society back then, when it wasn’t at all normal to free the nip. Berry, however, had always been drawn to the spicier looks, wearing whale tails, bikinis as tops, and other sheer nip-forward looks to red carpets.

Her “Bixie” Haircut

Her hair was styled in what’s now known as a “bixie,” a voluminous cross between a pixie and a bob. That, too, was seen as controversial, with people still talking about the hairstyle. She wasn’t afraid to clapback though. She replied to one of her online critics asking, “... and what about it?”

She looked chic and she knew it.