Top 10 Most Iconic Fashion Moments of All Time

When Marilyn Monroe's white pleated halter dress billowed up over a New York City subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, the image became one of the most reproduced photographs in history. Designed by William Travilla, the dress itself has become a cultural shorthand for Hollywood glamour, sensuality, and the golden age of cinema. Monroe reportedly wore it with a special weighted hem to keep it modestly in place.

On the night Prince Charles publicly admitted to adultery in a 1994 ITV documentary, Princess Diana appeared at a Serpentine Gallery gala in a figure-hugging off-the-shoulder black Christina Stambolian minidress. The image of her confident, liberated, and devastatingly beautiful dominated front pages worldwide. Fashion historians now call it the single most strategically brilliant use of clothing in modern history.

Uma Thurman's white shirt, black wide-leg trousers, and blunt black bob as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction defined 1990s cool with startling economy. Alongside John Travolta's black suit, the look established a new aesthetic vocabulary for independent cinema. The outfit has been recreated in thousands of Halloween costumes and fashion editorials every year since its debut.

Jean Paul Gaultier's salmon-pink corset with conical cups, worn by Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, is arguably the most subversive garment ever seen on a mainstream pop stage. By making underwear outerwear and weaponising lingerie as armour, Madonna and Gaultier rewrote the rules of female power dressing. Pope John Paul II urged Catholic fans to boycott the tour; 2.4 million people attended anyway.

The red and black leather jacket Michael Jackson wore in John Landis's Thriller music video is the most recognisable garment in pop music history. Designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, its epaulettes, quilted panels, and bold colourblocking defined the 1980s streetwear aesthetic and became a global Halloween staple. The original jacket sold at auction in 2011 for $1.8 million.

Grace Kelly's wedding dress for her 1956 marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, designed by MGM costume designer Helen Rose, remains the most copied wedding gown in history. The ivory silk taffeta and lace confection, with its high neck and long sleeves, set the template for royal bridal fashion that endures to this day. When Kelly died in 1982, she was buried in a replica of the gown.

When 16-year-old Lesley Hornby became Twiggy in 1966, her cropped hair, exaggerated lashes, flat chest, and geometric mini-dresses redefined the female ideal overnight and launched the Swinging Sixties mod aesthetic globally. Shot by photographer Barry Lategan for a Daily Express feature, her debut image ran on January 23, 1966 — by March she was declared "The Face of 1966" by the Daily Express.

Kate Moss in a barely-there slip dress — often a Calvin Klein design — became the defining image of 1990s fashion minimalism. Her waifish frame, androgynous beauty, and effortless dishevelment pioneered the aesthetic that dominated the decade's runways and advertising. Her 1992 Calvin Klein campaigns with Marky Mark, shot when she was just 17, remain among the most influential fashion photographs in history.

Lady Gaga's dress made entirely of raw flank steak, designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, arrived at the 2010 MTV VMAs and immediately became the most talked-about garment of the decade. Gaga explained it as a protest against "don't ask, don't tell." PETA condemned it; the dress is now preserved in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a testament to fashion's power to provoke.

When Marilyn Monroe's white pleated halter dress billowed up over a New York City subway grate in The Seven Year Itch, the image became one of the most reproduced photographs in history. Designed by William Travilla, the dress itself has become a cultural shorthand for Hollywood glamour, sensuality, and the golden age of cinema. Monroe reportedly wore it with a special weighted hem to keep it modestly in place.

On the night Prince Charles publicly admitted to adultery in a 1994 ITV documentary, Princess Diana appeared at a Serpentine Gallery gala in a figure-hugging off-the-shoulder black Christina Stambolian minidress. The image of her confident, liberated, and devastatingly beautiful dominated front pages worldwide. Fashion historians now call it the single most strategically brilliant use of clothing in modern history.

Uma Thurman's white shirt, black wide-leg trousers, and blunt black bob as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction defined 1990s cool with startling economy. Alongside John Travolta's black suit, the look established a new aesthetic vocabulary for independent cinema. The outfit has been recreated in thousands of Halloween costumes and fashion editorials every year since its debut.

Jean Paul Gaultier's salmon-pink corset with conical cups, worn by Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, is arguably the most subversive garment ever seen on a mainstream pop stage. By making underwear outerwear and weaponising lingerie as armour, Madonna and Gaultier rewrote the rules of female power dressing. Pope John Paul II urged Catholic fans to boycott the tour; 2.4 million people attended anyway.

The red and black leather jacket Michael Jackson wore in John Landis's Thriller music video is the most recognisable garment in pop music history. Designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, its epaulettes, quilted panels, and bold colourblocking defined the 1980s streetwear aesthetic and became a global Halloween staple. The original jacket sold at auction in 2011 for $1.8 million.

Grace Kelly's wedding dress for her 1956 marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, designed by MGM costume designer Helen Rose, remains the most copied wedding gown in history. The ivory silk taffeta and lace confection, with its high neck and long sleeves, set the template for royal bridal fashion that endures to this day. When Kelly died in 1982, she was buried in a replica of the gown.

When 16-year-old Lesley Hornby became Twiggy in 1966, her cropped hair, exaggerated lashes, flat chest, and geometric mini-dresses redefined the female ideal overnight and launched the Swinging Sixties mod aesthetic globally. Shot by photographer Barry Lategan for a Daily Express feature, her debut image ran on January 23, 1966 — by March she was declared "The Face of 1966" by the Daily Express.

Kate Moss in a barely-there slip dress — often a Calvin Klein design — became the defining image of 1990s fashion minimalism. Her waifish frame, androgynous beauty, and effortless dishevelment pioneered the aesthetic that dominated the decade's runways and advertising. Her 1992 Calvin Klein campaigns with Marky Mark, shot when she was just 17, remain among the most influential fashion photographs in history.

Lady Gaga's dress made entirely of raw flank steak, designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, arrived at the 2010 MTV VMAs and immediately became the most talked-about garment of the decade. Gaga explained it as a protest against "don't ask, don't tell." PETA condemned it; the dress is now preserved in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a testament to fashion's power to provoke.