Was it absolutely necessary for female singers at the MTV Awards to fetch up looking like madams in a Bangkok brothel? Katy “I’m not the kind of person to care if a boob pops out” Perry appeared in a series of 12 corsets before bootylicious Beyonce strutted her stuff in a basque and stockings.

Advertisement - article continues below And we wonder why girls as young as five suffer stress, guilt, shame, insecurity and body dissatisfaction. Meanwhile Lady Gaga totters into a London restaurant wearing a black bikini “covered” by a see-through lace catsuit –a get-up guaranteed to induce severe indigestion in other diners.

A woman’s dress,” Sophia Loren once said, “should be like barbed wire, serving its purpose without obstructing the view.” Unfortunately less is definitely more these days and sadly no view is ever obstructed.