Lady Gaga dramatically won the attention of the MTV Video Music Awards when she took to the stage in a matching dress, boots, hat and purse apparently made from raw meat.

She collected eight awards while wearing the outfit which appeared to be made of cuts of beef.

It was in fact designed by fashion designer Franc Fernandez - although it was not clear whether it was made from realistic-looking fabric or actual meat.

The Poker Face singer, 24, had for the second highest number of wins in one night in the history of the event.

Cher presented her with the most coveted award of the ceremony, Video Of The Year for Bad Romance.

Lady Gaga handed Cher her purse and told the audience: "I never thought I'd be asking Cher to hold my meat purse."

She told the audience: "Thank you so much. I was so nervous for tonight that I would let my fans down. I love you so much.

"I promised if I'd won this tonight I'd announce the name of my new record. It's called Born This Way."

Later Lady Gaga explained that the dress was designed to draw attention to the need to "fight for our rights".

When Ellen DeGeneres presented Lady Gaga with a “veggie bikini” as an alternative to the meat dress on her show Lady Gaga said: “Well, it is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I am the most judgement-free human being on the earth.

"However, it has many interpretations. For me this evening, if we don’t stand up for what we believe in and if we don’t fight for our rights pretty soon, we’re going to have as much rights as the meat on own bones. And, I am not a piece of meat.”

Not all celebrity watchers were impressed by her choice of outfit. An awards insider from the Los Angeles Times blogged that the stunt was boring.

Meanwhile, last week Lady Gaga appeared on the cover of Japanese Men's Vogue wearing a meat bikini and attracting criticism from animal rights groups.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)