It's safe to say that Lady Gaga is no stranger to some pretty out there fashion choices – whether that's a coat made entirely of Kermit frogs, or a hat made of her own hair. But, perhaps her most memorable look of all is the meat dress, which she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Understandably, the look garnered world-wide attention, with some praising her for the daring look while others criticised whether a dress made of meat was really ethical. Now, 11 years on, Gaga herself has opened up about her feelings towards the controversially iconic outfit.

Speaking to British Vogue for her December cover shoot, the 35-year-old singer (whose real name is Stefani Germanotta) reflected on the meat dress that made headlines over a decade ago. On the topic of how the idea for the dress came about, Gaga revealed her makeup artist was the inspiration behind the look. "It's actually Val Garland's idea. Val Garland the makeup artist," she explained, "Her and I worked together for a long time and she shared a story with me where she had gone to a party wearing sausages and I thought this was quite funny and I said, 'Well that's a great way to make sure that everybody leaves you alone at a party'."

Gaga added that the dress "was ultimately designed by Franc Fernandez" but emphasised that "it was the brainchild of House of Gaga and we were backstage with Brandon Maxwell who was working as one of my stylists at the time. He was vegan also and still helping to sew all of these last bits of meat to me and making my meat hat and my meat purse, which was held by Cher. It smelled like meat."

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Chatting with British Vogue's Giles Hattersley, she also responded to criticism about whether the dress should even be referred to as a dress. "There's a corset under this, but the corset was sewn to the meat so this is actually a garment," she pointed out, "They didn't just drape meat over me and cross their fingers."

As for what it was like wearing a dress made of meat, the Poker Face singer said: "It was thrilling to wear."

So, there you have it!

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Jade Biggs

Jade Biggs (she/her) is Cosmopolitan UK's Features Writer, covering everything from breaking news and latest royal gossip, to the health and fitness trends taking over your TikTok feed. She also works on first-person features and investigative long-reads, taking a deep-dive into mental health, celebrity culture and women's rights. Jade has been a journalist and content writer for ten years, and has interviewed leading researchers and doctors, high-profile influencers and fitness experts. She is a cat mum to four fur babies and is obsessed with Drag Race, bottomless brunches and wearing clothes only suitable for Bratz dolls. Follow her on Instagram or Twitter.