Looking Back at Beyoncé’s Fashion Moments, From the Under-the-Radar to the Iconic

With a decades-long career that’s spanned from a girl group to an eponymous solo act, Beyoncé has more iconic fashion moments than we can count. Some of her past looks were so major that they practically made the world stop (…carry on), like when she revealed her baby bump onstage wearing a purple sequined tuxedo jacket, or when she hit the 2015 Met Gala red carpet in a bedazzled Givenchy Haute Couture naked dress.

But for every piece of Beyoncé’s wardrobe that lives rent-free in our minds, there’s a score of looks that flew under the radar. Look on with delight at some of her best throwbacks: a pair of knee-length jean shorts, or the rhinestone-embellished slip she wore to the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. Or, take a dive into her past looks with Destiny’s Child, like the Boy Scout uniforms the trio wore to the 2001 Kids’ Choice Awards, or the slinky green and gold dresses they donned for the Grammys the same year.

All these years later, Beyoncé only continues to up her fashion game. Who, after all, could forget her legendary roster of Renaissance World Tour costumes, which ranged from Mugler to Loewe?Recently, Bey has pivoted to a Cowboy Carter-inspired look. During New York Fashion Week’s fall 2024 season, the singer caused a fashion industry tizzy when she made a surprise appearance at the Luar show, decked out in a Beyoncéfied take on Westernwear, courtesy of Gurav Gupta; Earlier this year, she and Jay-Z stopped by Pharrell Williams’s Louis Vuitton menswear show in Paris, cowboy hat and all. Still, she never strays far from high fashion, diving into the Versace archives for the iHeartRadio Music Awards and tapping Schiaparelli to create an elevated, cowgirl-chic Grammys dress.

In honor of Beyoncé’s 44th birthday, take a look back at some of our favorite looks from her storied career—from the stage to the screen and beyond.