The naked truth about barely there dresses

REGULAR readers of this column will know my feelings towards the 'naked dress'. While I am loath to criticise any woman for what she wears (that's so last century), they often leave me cold. A bit like the wearer I imagine.

- BY EMMA JOHNSON

That wasn't always the case. Back in the Nineties, when you saw a barely there number on the red carpet it guaranteed headlines, if not front page coverage.

There are celebrity looks from that period that live long in the memory precisely because the phenomenon was so new.

By today's standards the Versace safety pin dress Elizabeth Hurley donned to the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral in 1994 is almost modest. Back then it sent the world tilting on its axis and catapulted Liz to lasting international fame. Jennifer Lopez's tropical print Versace gown in 2000 was so memorable it led to the creation of Google Images (Google the story).

Full disclosure - in case anyone has access to my graduation ball photos - back in the day, yours truly was not immune to the lure of a sheer design. But the trend felt new, fresh.