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From lighting to meat: check out these wild and whacky outfits

Lightning dress by Iris Van Herpen during Paris Haute Couture Week 2026Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Iris Van Herpen's 'The Fractal Universe' look

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Last week was Paris Haute Couture Week.

It's a week where the biggest names in the world of fashion go to Paris for exclusive showcases of handmade designs.

They are usually very bold and quirky, and take hundreds of hours to create.

This year saw a dress that saw fashion combining with science - it was put in a particle accelerator to trap electrons, so that the dress looked like it was made of lightning on stage.

Which got us thinking, what other strange and wonderful outfits have we seen before? Read on to find out.

Lady Gaga's meat dress

Lady Gaga wearing a meat dress at the MTV video music awards. Her hands are poised on her hips and she was white and blue hair. Image source, Getty Images

Of course at the top of our list is Lady Gaga's famous meat dress, that she wore to the MTV Music Video Awards back in 2010.

And no, the dress doesn't just LOOK like meat, it was really made from layers of Argentinian beef.

Ruffling some feathers

Emma Corrin attends the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2026/2027 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on July 6, 2026 in Paris, France.
Image source, JB Lacroix/GC Images & WWD via Getty Images
Image caption,

Emma Corrin wearing one of Daniel Roseberry's eye-catching designs

Also from this year's Paris Haute Couture Week came this fabulous bird design.

Actor Emma Corrin wore the pastel-coloured feather jacket, I hope they didn't get poked by those talons!

Bubble trouble

Chinese-US freestyle skier Eileen Gu poses on the red carpet for the 2026 Met Gala wearing a dress that appears made of bubbles. There are also bubbles in the air around her.Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

At this year's Met Gala, Olympic skier Eileen Gu wore a dress that looked like it was made of bubbles.

The gown has more than 15,000 hand-formed, individually bonded, iridescent glass bubbles.

Geometry, but make it fashion

models in clothes shaped like geometric shapesImage source, Getty Images

If you're a lover of spheres, cubes and pyramids, then these outfits might be for you.

These geometric outfits are from designer Viktor and Rolf's Haute Couture show in 2024.

You wouldn't want to get poked by those!

Choo choo, train coming through

Diana Ross in white dress with 18-foot train Image source, Getty Images

At the 2025 Met Gala, legendary singer and actress Diana Ross had the dress to trump all other dresses.

The 18 foot long (5.4m) train on the white cloak was embroidered with the names of all of her children and grandchildren.

Gorgeous in a power cut

Katy Perry (blonde) wearing a silver chandelier dress that's lit upImage source, Getty Images

If the Met Gala in 2019 had a powercut...I think they'd be safe.

That'd be thanks to Katy Perry's outfit that year, which involved a chandelier on her head and another around her waste.

The outfit had 18 steel bones and two hidden battery packs to light up the look.