Scandals & Side Boobs: A Brief History Of Red Carpet Cleavage

julia louis dreyfus

Rose McGowan

Lil' Kim

JL

Halle Berry

anne hathaway

Christina-H

jennifer lopez

Katy Perry

Sophia Vergara

Once upon a time in Hollywood, actresses and pop divas arrived at award shows in prim and proper dresses that covered up their décolletage. Then, came the 1990s and celebrities discovered that showing some skin could get them some serious press. Since then collars have been cut lower and cleavage has been raised higher. Starlets have dared to bare not only skin, but also their actual breasts.

As soon as stars discovered that by cutting their necklines lower they could generate more press, things got a little outrageous on the red carpet. Enter Julia Louis-Dreyfus's daring Emmys décolletage and Jennifer Lopez's scandalous Grammys gown. Creative souls like Lil' Kim and Rose McGowan also added pasties and sheer netting to the equation. And Anne Hathaway arguably started the recent "side boob" trend when a photographer caught her at a very unflattering angle in a dress she obviously had no idea would be so revealing--or so revolutionary.

So where does cleavage stand in 2014? What kind of décolletage can we expect on the Oscar red carpet? Well, if history proves as any example, you can expect to see cleavage out, but the really scandalous bits tucked in. It's all about the classic bosom nowadays. Then again, the stars on Oscar night could very well surprise us.

[Photo Credit: Getty Images]