The 40 Biggest Celebrity Wardrobe Malfunctions Ever
Sometimes the wind is just not your friend.
Celebrities can only be so prepared (double-sided sticky tape, static guard, etc…) when it comes to wardrobe malfunctions—which is why there have been a lot of them, some worse than others. (We blame the wind 80 percent of the time.) Stars have suffered from every crazy incident possible, from dresses flying up on the red carpet to clasps simply coming loose and the cameras were there to catch them all. Ahead, the 40 most NSFW wardrobe mishaps we’ve seen so far.
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Gwyneth Paltrow, 2001
The A-lister and Goop mastermind wore a chic satin blazer to the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards, but she had a near nip slip when she turned sideways to walk the red carpet.
Sarah Jessica Parker, 2002
Sarah Jessica Parker had a major Marilyn Monroe moment while shooting Sex and the City in New York. (Luckily, she was wearing cute underwear.)
Anne Hathaway, 2003
Anne Hathaway’s nipples were clearly visible through the dress she wore to the premiere of School of Rock. Though, what's really the problem? #FreetheNipple, right?
Janet Jackson, 2004
Who could forget the moment when Justin Timberlake ripped Janet Jackson’s top, exposing her breast, during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime performance? The event was deemed “Nipplegate,” and everyone was confused as to whether or not this was a premeditated wardrobe malfunction for publicity.
Paris Hilton, 2005
The heiress and reality star was partying at the Shelborne Hotel on New Year’s Eve and some fellow attendees spotted her nipple. Paris didn't seem to mind, though; she partied on.
Svetlana Metkina, 2007
Oops! Russian actress Svetlana Metkina’s breast popped out of her strapless dress while attending the American Foundation for Aids Research party at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Lindsay Lohan, 2008
The wind was not kind to Lindsay Lohan when she walked the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards in L.A. A large gust came through, sending her purple dress flying up to reveal her slip and black underwear.
Sugababes, 2008
The Sugababes walked the runway during the Fashion For Relief show during London Fashion Week, and poor Sugababe Heidi lost a shoe mid-stroll.
Elizabeth Banks, 2009
This one's going to require a trip to the tailor: While attending the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival, the zipper on the actress and producer's dress split down her back.
Emma Watson, 2009
Fans caught a glimpse of Emma Watson’s nude underwear as she walked the red carpet for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As Watson later told David Letterman, “At least I’m wearing underwear.”
Janelle Monet, 2010
Janelle Monet was performing on stage at BET’s Rip the Runway and, ironically, her pants ripped right down the back revealing the singer's underwear.
Katherine Heigl, 2010
Katherine Heigl suffered a huge malfunction when the strap of her red dress snapped while she was on stage at ShoWest in New York.
Paula Abdul, 2011
The wind is no one's friend, especially if you're wearing a dress. Paula Abdul had to momentarily pause after stepping out of her car for the The X Factor auditions in Los Angeles because her skirt was lifted up by the breeze.
Nicki Minaj, 2011
Nicki Minaj had her first major wardrobe malfunction on live TV while performing on Good Morning America. The singer’s left boob popped out of her shirt. Minaj denied rumors that the nip slip was staged for attention.
Lydia Bright, 2011
Lydia Bright, an attendee at the The Duke of Essex Polo Trophy at Gaynes Park, was shocked when a gust of wind from the helicopter propellers sent her dress flying.
Micaela Schaefer, 2012
Micaela Schaefer attended the premiere of Men In Black 3 in Germany wearing a dress made out of VHS tape. The tape clearly isn't the best material for a dress, as it revealed her black thong when the wind blew.
Sofia Vergara, 2012
Sofia Vergara’s dress ripped down the back 20 minutes before Modern Family won the Emmy for “Outstanding Comedy.” The actress wasn’t shy about the malfunction, tweeting photo of the mishap. Her emergency wardrobe team quickly fixed the tear, and she made it to the stage just in time.
Stefanie Scott, 2013
Actress Stefanie Scott was quite surprised when her dress blew upward while walking down the red (or, in this case, purple) carpet at Nickelodeon's 26th Annual Kids' Choice Awards. Perhaps she should take a cue from Kate Middleton and put weights in the hem of her dress?
Lupita Nyong'o, 2014
Lupita Nyong'o was celebrating her Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role award for 12 Years a Slave, when the hem of her custom-made Prada gown snagged on a plant.
Kate Middleton, 2014
Only a future queen would look this graceful as the wind lifts up her skirt. While most of us would immediately fret, the Duchess of Cambridge seemed prepared with another layer underneath. Still, we had a mini-heart attack just looking at this incident!
Erin Holland, 2015
Erin Holland experienced a minor wardrobe malfunction when the zipper down her backside split at the Australian premiere of Jurassic World.
Britney Spears, 2015
Britney Spears has been deemed the queen of wardrobe malfunctions, so she knows just how to handle them. While performing in Las Vegas, the entire zipper of her tight jumpsuit broke and her dancers tried—for quite some time—to nonchalantly fix it while Spears, pro that she is, continued to perform.
Elizabeth Olsen, 2015
Elizabeth Olsen accidentally flashed the crowd her nude undergarments while attending a Miu Miu event in Paris. She quickly used her clutch as a shield...though not before photographers caught her surprised look.
Cara Delevingne, 2015
Cara Delevingne leaned over the barricades for a quick chat at the premiere of Pan in London. But that meant her minidress became even shorter and exposed part of her buttocks to the cameras.
Dakota Johnson, 2016
Dakota Johnson suffered a wardrobe malfunction while accepting her People’s Choice Award: Her Armani Prive top came undone when actress Leslie Mann hugged her. The Fifty Shades of Grey star joked, “Well, it’s not like nobody here hasn’t already seen my boobs.”
Margot Robbie, 2016
While attending the London premiere of The Legend of Tarzan, Margot Robbie’s Miu Miu gown came undone. Her co-star, Alexander Skarsgard, came to the rescue and caught it before this moment became too NSFW.
Xenia Tchoumitcheva, 2016
Xenia Tchoumitcheva attended the European Premiere of Suicide Squad in London and accidentally revealed she...wasn't wearing anything under her dress when she spun around.
Chrissy Teigen, 2016
Chrissy Teigen accidentally flashed her “hooha” (as she refers to it) at the 2016 AMAs. She took to Instagram to apologize in the most Chrissy Teigen way possible: In her caption wrote, “Apologies to anyone harmed mentally or physically by my hooha.”
Dayane Mello, 2016
Dayane Mello walked the red carpet at Cannes for The Young Pope and wore a dress with the highest slit anyone's ever seen. The cameras caught everything, including the fact she skipped wearing underwear.
Gigi Hadid, 2016
Gigi Hadid was walking down the runway for Versace when her top slipped, revealing one of her boobs. Ever the pro, the model continued her fierce catwalk like nothing had happened.
John Stamos, 2017
John Stamos gave a whole new meaning to “Jessie and the Rippers” while he was performing with The Beach Boys in New York. While jamming out on guitar, the Fuller House star split his pants on stage, which he laughed about later on Instagram: “...and then, somewhere towards the end of 'Fun, Fun, Fun' I felt a slight breeze in the buttocks area....#SplitPants #TheBeachBUNS #showmustgoon” he wrote in the caption.
Bella Hadid, 2017
Bella Hadid attended the Ismael's Ghosts screening at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, and accidentally revealed a bit too much, thanks to her high slit gown. It was the second year in a row she had a wardrobe malfunction at the event.
Emily Ratajkowski, 2017
At the Golden Globes after-party, Emily Ratajkowski’s Reem Acra dress parted further than she intended as she walked, exposing her nude underwear. The actress quickly recovered though from the mishap and still looked amazing.
Rihanna, 2018
One part of Rihanna’s dress refused to stay in place as she posed for photos at the Ocean’s 8 premiere in London. The singer and actress was seen adjusting her shoulder sleeves throughout the red carpet.
Petra Nemcova, 2018
Wind can be an issue at the Cannes Film Festival and Petra Nemcova definitely experienced that problem. The star was walking the red carpet before a screening of Blackkklansman when her dress slit revealed her underwear.
Bella Hadid, 2018
Bella Hadid suffered a similar runway incident to her sister Gigi. Bella was walking down the runway for Alexandre Vauthier when she had a minor nip slip. She carried like a pro, though.
Courtney Act, 2018
Australian drag queen Courtney Act, best known for RuPaul’s Drag Race, surely put on a show for the CBS’ Big Brother UK audience. When walking across the stage to enter the Big Brother house, Act’s skirt completely fell off. Oops.
I’m currently working at Dotdash Meredith as the Celeb & Entertainment E-Commerce Lead contributing affiliate content for People.com and InStyle.com. I’m basically like your personal shopper, from writing about that cozy loungewear set you didn’t know you needed to keeping tabs on the best sales and deals on the internet. I’m also a pro at finding affordable dupes for celebrity looks and I love to dig into the data to strategize content opportunities.
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