The moment Cher wore the ultimate ‘revenge’ outfit

Since then, the phrase revenge dress has increasingly been used in celebrity culture. Revenge dresses as they are understood by the mainstream have typically been flattering,  revealing, and likely a bit risqué – a reminder of what an ex is missing out on. In 2014 Rihanna arrived at the CFDA Fashion Awards in a sheer Adam Selman dress that was allegedly a message to an on-off boyfriend Drake. As she told French Vogue a few years later: “Every time a man cheats on you or treats you badly, you need a revenge dress. Every woman knows that.” In the case of supermodel Bella Hadid at the 2017 Met Gala, that was a revenge body stocking, which she wore to an event that was also attended by her ex-boyfriend The Weeknd and his then new girlfriend Selena Gomez. 

More recently, Nicole Kidman appeared post-split from husband Keith Urban resplendent in a strapless black Chanel dress by Matthieu Blazy at Vogue World 2025. And much has been made of various ensembles worn by popstar Lily Allen in the wake of her chart-busting revenge album, West End Girl, which was written in the 10-day immediate aftermath of her split from Stranger Things star David Harbour. But arguably the most striking of her looks to channel the revenge dressing spirit was the barely-there Colleen Allen design she wore to the 2025 CFDA Awards.

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But for all of the delight that audiences can feel when seeing a wronged woman in an incredible outfit, the phrase “revenge dressing” – which usually is used in relation to a woman who lives up to the beauty ideals of the mainstream straight male gaze – has its critics. It’s all about how you appear to an external source, not how you feel within. In an interview with the Guardian in 2021, Dr Angela McRobbie, a professor of communications at Goldsmiths College, University of London, said: “It’s a deeply conservative idea. Its implication being that the young woman who has been cheated on can think of no further way to punish her untrustworthy lover than by extravagant displays of fashion and the body.”

Confounding expectations

In the case of Cher, though, the revenge being had was more often against society’s expectations than any one man’s. Her bare midriff was a form of revenge, of sorts, throughout much of her earlier career, in no small part thanks to her celebrated working relationship with Mackie. Mackie, who has also worked with Tina Turner, Madonna, Bette Midler, Diana Ross and Elton John, had first met Cher on the set of The Carol Burnett Show in 1967. But, as he told the New Yorker: “It wasn’t until a little later, when we started showing a little midriff, that people started getting excited.”