How to make your own Lady Gaga meat dress for Halloween

Wondering what the most popular costume will be this Halloween?

It’ll be Lady Gaga. There you go. Should I have posted a spoiler alert?

The real question is: which Lady Gaga outfit will be the most popular costume this Halloween?

Our vote: the meat dress she wore to the 2010 Video Music Awards. Yes, this is the one made from actual cuts of meat from a market.

Why would Lady Gaga wear a meat dress? It has something to do with commercialism and “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but we really don’t care. We just think it’s freakin’ bitchin’, and decided to see how we, and you, could make or buy our own… or something close enough.

Keep in mind, a suit made of real meat won’t be cheap. The urban legend busting folks at Snopes reported that a similar dress appeared in a 1991 Canadian art show costing $260 in meat alone.

The options:

SkinBag's line of clothes are made from synthetic skin that looks and feels like human flesh.

1) If actual cow meat is too passe for you, consider SkinBag as a material. Its a synthetic skin from France that you can either buy in sheets to turn into your own creation, or purchase any one of SkinBag’s own premade designs, from skin purses, to skin body suits, to skin wedding dresses.

Their official site explains that “SkinBag is a relational tool offering, an alchemy between the repulsive and the captivating which offersa new form of nudity to our social body.” Again, made in France.

2) Go salami. It goes well with cheese and crackers, and will stem off rot a little longer than raw beef. Blogger Jia Jem tells how she made a costume of Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force using salami:

I ended up using the K.I.S.S. method of construction, which involved a basic shift dress out of thick cotton. I layed the meat on top, then put clear vinyl over it and sewed tracks with clear thread. I used a wide stitch length to avoid perforating the meat to the point it might just… uh, slide down the bottom of the dress. I also blotted it all before sewing to get rid of as much grease as possible to avoid clouding the vinyl. Lastly, I made sure to bind the bottom of the dress with a strip of clear vinyl to catch drips. (I love talking about this; it’s so disgusting.) The whole project took about 6 hours, and I kept it refrigerated until the party. Good times.

3) Hot dog costumes are a dime a dozen (actually, at least $20 for just one at Amazon). But if you don’t have the time or are on a limited budget, this may be the Gaga outfit for you. Accessorize it with a tea cup and winged granny glasses, and you’ll be ready for Halloween.

Ugly Betty did it before Lady Gaga. (photo from Just Jared)