Bella Hadid’s 6 most controversial looks, from lots of naked dresses to wardrobe malfunctions and tighty-whities
From haute couture runways to exclusive red-carpet events, Bella Hadid is always turning heads — but some of her looks have gotten her attention for the wrong reasons.
Though she may be a professional, the supermodel isn’t accident-prone to wardrobe malfunctions like the rest of us.
Bella certainly has her own sense of style — and it means she tends to make waves.
“I’m dead-on. I know what I like,” she told Vogue in 2022. “I always have, since I was young. And I’ve never drifted.
“I look outside and I see a hundred people dressed exactly like me, just because of what Instagram is.”
She is also no stranger to baring a little skin; after all, she’s a regular in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
It turns out the model doesn’t think real life and the runway are that different.
At the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Afterparty, Bella showed off her figure in a see-through Julien Macdonald gown.
Sheer enough to be considered lingerie, the silver gown features a deep V-cut and is utterly see-through from the waist down.
Bella’s nude thong is visible as she strikes a pose on the red carpet.
GOING NEARLY NUDE
Not one to turn away from a risqué fashion moment, Bella bared plenty of skin at the 2017 amfAR charity gala during the 70th Cannes Film Festival.
Yet another sheer silver gown, the model shined in a Ralph and Russo gown draped in diamonds — and not much else.
The dress, made of 22 fully embroidered panels, took about 30 skilled hand embroiderers and over 3,000 hours of work.
What the dress lacked in coverage, it made up for in details, with a two-meter-long train cascading down from the shoulder, ten different types of crystals and sequins, and 150 meters of hand-appliqued silver chains.
A built-in see-through corset gave Bella lift and shape.
WHOOPSIE WARDROBE MALFUNCTION
Bella’s main outfit at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival proved to be just as dangerous.
The model attended the premiere of Ismael’s Ghosts in a high-slit, custom Alexandre Vauthier white gown.
While certainly more… opaque than some of her other outfits, the dress, with its plunging neckline and hip-high leg slit, also posed a problem.
She rushed to pull the dress back in place after a wrong move exposed her flesh-toned underwear.
The malfunction was the second year in a row for the model, following a similar incident that happened to her exactly a year prior at the 69th Cannes Film Festival as she entered the screening for The Unknown Girl.
Bella suffered the same mistake as she climbed up the stairs in a red halter Alexandre Vauthier gown, also with a high-slit and low neckline.
BUTT IT’S FASHION, DAHLING
Never one to shy away from a fashion statement, Bella donned a controversial custom-made Alexander Wang catsuit at the 2017 Met Gala.
The theme had been Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between, which paid tribute to Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo’s avant-garde designs that play with the body’s shape and form.
Bella’s sheer black one-piece with a plunging back was the talk of the town.
The model called the experience “nerve-wracking” in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar.
“I couldn’t pee because I was sewn in from the top,” she said.
“I put my foot in the wrong part of the leotard at one point, so I had to take it off and put it back on again. It was a hassle, but worth it.”
The fit also landed her on multiple worst-dressed lists that year, from Business Insider to Cosmopolitan to The Hollywood Reporter.
FLASHING THE FRENCH
Bella’s choice for the 77th Cannes Film Festival received considerable criticism from critics and fashion professionals.
One stylist said that the see-through beige dress was “shocking” for the “sophisticated and elegant” festival and that the model “should’ve dialed it down.”
New York stylist Tavia Sharp explained in an interview with The U.S. Sun why she thought the fit was inappropriate.
“It seemed shocking that she would not have anything covering at least some of her breasts,” she said.
“The color also matched her skin tone to help her stand out.
“Before, Bella was the Queen of Cannes, but with this naked dress, it has gone wrong for her.
“Bella seemed to be hungry for attention.”
NO PANTS, NO PROBLEM
Plenty of celebrities have stepped out in their underwear, much to the fashion world’s chagrin.
Hailey Bieber, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Kristen Stewart have all received bashings for going out in revealing pairs of tightY-whities.
Though she is a world-class supermodel, Bella is no exception.
The usual trendsetter made yet another daring move as she roamed the streets of New York City in a pair of white boxers, a white tee, a leather jacket, and a pair of UGG boots.
While the outfit may have been, at the minimum, weather-appropriate in September 2022, the “no-pants” trend quickly proved to be a controversial fashion trend.
MODEL OFF-OFF-DUTY
Thank you, Bella Hadid, for showing the public that even models sometimes need some help dressing.
The model earned side-eyes from fashion fans in 2018 when she was photographed exploring Paris in a sheer turtleneck with no bra.
She teamed that with a patchwork-style plaid blazer with a matching miniskirt, yellow-striped athletic socks, and Balenciaga Triple S sneakers.
Her accessories — huge hoop earrings, red-tinted sunglasses, and a belt-styled fanny pack — also earned her some flack.
While sneakers are certainly comfortable for walking around a metropolitan city, many, such as the critics at The Wall Street Journal, argue that she could’ve made a better choice.
The publication explained its hatred for the Balenciaga footwear, calling it “plain old ugly.”
Jacob Gallagher, a fashion writer at WSJ, dubbed the shoe “purposefully unattractive” and flamed it as “the latest bit of ‘look-at-me’ trickery skittering off runways.”