31 Most Risqué MTV Video Music Awards Looks of All Time

If you’re looking for sheer shock and awe value, you can’t do better than the MTV Video Music Awards. From Kanye West interrupting his now on-again enemy Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to a Rage Against the Machine member scaling the set after losing a Moonman to Michael Jackson mistaking a birthday cake for an “Artist of the Millennium” award, the show is ripe with jaw-dropping moments. And we haven’t even gotten to the fashion yet. Over the years, the VMAs has turned into a platform for showing as much skin as possible in truly eye-catching ensembles that take modesty to task. We’re talking a see-through bodysuit, a denim skirt so short it was a few inches away from being nonexistent and a dazzling pastie that no one who watched the 1999 broadcast can erase from their subconscious — just to name a handful of examples. In anticipation of this year’s ceremony just a few weeks away, we thought we’d take a look back at all the VMAs looks (both up on stage and off) that had us collectively shaking our heads.

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