Madonna

Madonna: 50 Looks We Can't Forget

The Boy Toy belt. A monocle. Cone bras. No one does it like this Italian: As the Material Girl turns the big 5-0 (on Aug. 16) trace her every fashion reinvention. By Aaron Parsley and Cara Lynn Shultz

'VIRGIN' TERRITORY

After Madonna – clad in a tulle skirt, garters, a white bustier and a "Boy Toy" belt buckle – writhed her way through the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, underwear was suddenly the new outerwear. "It's not like I was saying, 'Don't pay attention to the clothes – to the lingerie – I'm wearing,' " she told Rolling Stone. "Actually, the fact that I was wearing those clothes was meant to drive home the point that you can be sexy and strong at the same time. In a way, it was necessary to wear the clothes."

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CREDIT: Adam Sculler/RANGEFINDERS/GLOBE

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY AUGUST 14, 2008 06:00 AM EDT