Lady Gaga has been photographed wearing the "safety-pin" Versace dress which launched Elizabeth Hurley to stardom in 1994, and ended up universally known as That Dress. What can it all mean?
When and where did she wear it?
In Milan on Tuesday night, Lady Gaga was spotted in That Dress outside the Hotel Principe di Savoia, where she is staying.
What the heck was she doing in it?
The presence of fashion photographer Terry Richardson could be a clue. Since she wore vintage Versace in the video for The Edge of Glory, Gaga has been given free rein in the label's archive. Recently, she has worn a few of the fashion house's dresses, Richardson in tow – suggesting a possible reportage-style photo-shoot. This reality-meets-fashion idea recalls Naomi Campbell's community service in 2008, when the supermodel turned up for work in couture gowns, photographed by Steven Klein for W magazine.
Who wore it first?
Elizabeth Hurley, of course – for the premier of then-boyfriend Hugh Grant's film Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994. Back then, dresses on the red carpet tended towards the demure. The sight of Hurley in a figure-hugging dress with slashed sides and a plunging neckline immediately made her a star – despite the fact that few had heard of her until then. In that way, the dress arguably launched celebrity culture as we know it today.
What's its place in fashion history?
How many dresses have their own Wikipedia page? That Dress has been a massive influence on younger London designers, especially after it featured in the Versace exhibition at the V&A in 2002. Christopher Kane referenced it explicitly with safety-pinned mini-dresses in his debut collection for Versace's younger label Versus in 2009.
So what does it all mean?
Compared with Lady Gaga's meat dress, That Dress scores pretty low for shock value – although wearing something so revealing is an effective two fingers to the commentators who criticised Gaga for putting on weight. It's more likely that Gaga was attracted to its significance to pop culture. As a fashion nerd, she would love nothing more than wearing a piece of fashion history.
Finally, who wore it best?
You'd have to say Hurley. Toby Young once described her thus: "From the neck up she looks and sounds like a perfect English rose, but from the neck down she resembles a game-show hostess." That Dress showed off the combination to perfection, and 20 years on, it's still a knockout.
