See-through clothing is anygarment of clothing made withlace,mesh orsheer fabric that allows the wearer's body or undergarments to be seen through its fabric. See-through fabrics have been fashionable at various times in history, ranging from eighteenth-century Europe to the modern "sheer fashion trend" that started withdesigner clothing from 2008.[1] See-through or sheer fabric, particularly in skintone (called "nude") colours, is sometimes calledillusion, as in 'illusion bodice' (or sleeve) due to giving the impression of exposed flesh, or arevealing ensemble.[2]
Mesh, web, ornet fabric may have many connected or woven pieces with many closely spaced holes, frequently used for modernsports jerseys.
A sheer fabric is a thin cloth which issemi-transparent. These includechiffon,georgette, andgauze. Some are fine-denierknits used intights,stockings,bodystockings,dancewear andlingerie. It can also be used intops,pants,skirts,dresses, andgowns.
Latex rubber, which is naturally translucent, or plastics, can be made into clothing material of any level of transparency. Clear plastic is typically only found in over-garments, such asraincoats. The use of translucentlatex rubber for clothing can also be found infetish clothing. Some materials becometransparent when wet or when extreme light is shone on it, such as by aflashbulb.[citation needed]
During the 1770s and 1780s, there was a fashion for wrap-over dresses which were sometimes worn by actresses in Oriental roles.[3] These were criticised byHorace Walpole among others for resemblingdressing gowns too closely, while others objected to their revealingly thin materials, such as silk gauze andmuslin.[3] In the 1780s the chemise a la Reine, as worn byMarie Antoinette in a notorious portrait of 1783 byÉlisabeth Vigée Le Brun, became very popular.[3] It was a filmy white muslin dress similar to the undergarment also called achemise. In 1784Abigail Adams visited Paris, where she was shocked to observe that fashionable Frenchwomen, includingMadame Helvétius, favoured the more revealing and sheer versions of this gown.[3]
By the end of the 1790s,Louis-Sébastien Mercier, observing the dress of Frenchwomen, noted thatdemi-mondaines were dressing in a manner he described as "a la sauvage", comprising a semi-sheer muslin gown worn only over a flesh-colouredbodystocking, with the breasts, arms and feet bare.[3] Mercier blamed the public display of nude or lightly draped statues for encouraging this immodesty.[3]
In the very late 18th century and for the first decade of the 19th,neoclassical gowns made of lightweight translucent muslin were fashionable.[4] As the fabric clung to the body, revealing what was beneath, it made nudityà la grecque, a centrepiece of public spectacle.[5] The concept of transparency in women's dress was often satirised by caricaturists of the day such asIsaac Cruikshank.
Throughout the 19th century, women's dresses, particularly for summer or evening wear, often featured transparent fabrics. However, these were almost always lined or worn over opaque undergarments or an underdress so that the wearer's modesty was preserved.[6][7][8]
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A fashionable garment in the early 20th century was the "peekaboo waist", ablouse made frombroderie anglaise or sheer fabric, which led to complaints that flesh could be seen through the eyelets in the embroidery or through the thin fabric.[9] In 1913 the so-called "x-ray dress", defined as a woman's dress that was considered to be too sheer or revealing, caused similar consternation. In August that year, the chief of police of Los Angeles stated his intention to recommend a law banning women from wearing the "diaphanous" x‑ray dress on the streets.[10]H. Russell Albee, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, ordered the arrest of any woman caught wearing an x‑ray dress on the street, which was defined as a gown cut too low at the neck or split to the knee.[11] The following year in 1914, Jean-Philippe Worth, designer for the renowned Paris coutureHouse of Worth, had a client object to the thickness of thetaffetalining of her dress, which was described as "thinner than acigarette paper". Worth stated that using an even thinner, sheerer lining fabric would have had the effect of an "x-ray dress".[12]
In Australia, an article was published inThe Daily Telegraph on the 24 November 1913 strongly opposed to "freak dresses" and "peek-a-boo blouses" that had lately become the fashion in "other Capitals". The editorial complains of dresses of "exiguous transparency and undue scantiness" and "the low-cut blouse that invites pneumonia".[13]
See-through and transparent clothing became very fashionable in the latter part of the 1960s. In 1967,Missoni presented a show at thePalazzo Pitti in Florence, where Rosita Missoni noticed the models'bras showed through their knit dresses and requested they remove them.[14] However, under thecatwalk lights, the garments became unexpectedly transparent, revealing nude breasts beneath.[14] The see-through look was subsequently presented byYves Saint Laurent the following year,[15] and in London,Ossie Clark presented sheer chiffon dresses intended to be worn without underwear.[16] The trend led to jewellery designers such as Daniel Stoenescu atCadoro creating "body jewellery" to be worn with sheer blouses and low-cut dresses.[17] Stoenescu designed metal filigree "breastplates" inspired by a statue ofVenus found atPompeii, which functioned like a brassiere and were designed to be visible through the transparent shirts while preserving the wearer's modesty.[17]
Punk rock artistPatti Smith wears a see-through slip inside-out on the cover of her 1978 albumEaster.
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A see-through dress worn byKate Middleton, princess of Wales, to a charity fashion show in 2002 was sold at auction on 17 March 2011 for $127,500.[18]
See-through materials of various kinds continue to be available for a wide range of clothing styles. See-through fabrics have been featured heavily onhigh-fashion runways since 2006. This use of see-through fabrics as a common element indesigner clothing resulted in the "sheer fashion trend" that has been predominant in fashion circles since 2008.[1]In 2021,Megan Fox wore a see through dress seeing hertorso andlingerie at the2021 MTV Video Music Awards.[19][20] In 2023, Fox wore another see through dress which was black and showed more in detail of hermidriff and one could clearly see herbelly button.[21]
At the2025 Grammy Awards,Bianca Censori wore a mini-dress made of transparent mesh underneath which she could be seen to be naked.[22][23]Charli XCX wore a sheer black dress to theBrit Awards 2025 through which her breasts could be seen.[24] At the 2025Vanity FairOscar party, many the female celebrities wore sheer "naked dresses", mostly combined with various items of visible underwear.[25]
Some few years back moral reformers started a campaign against the "peek-a-boo" waist. The "peek-a-boo" waist was one with an embroidered front and the objection was made because of the portion of the bust which could be seen through the openings in the embroidery.
