Stars flash the flesh

Today's celebrities flash 59% of their body on the red carpet, a new study has found.

Researchers have scanned through the years to see how much nudity has been on show over the decades.

In the Nineties, when Liz Hurley upped the ante in a safety pin Versace creation at the opening of Four Weddings And A Funeral, celebrities revealed an average 39% of bare skin.

Since then, stars such as Kelly Brook have taken the concept of flashing the flesh to new heights.

In 2000, the former Big Breakfast presenter shocked onlookers at the premiere of gangster movie Snatch by wearing a Julien Macdonald two piece, consisting of little more than knickers and a backless, sideless dress.

Now experts have calculated the average percentage of nudity on show in every decade since the 1950s, by selecting ten iconic photographs from each period.

They put the images together on a body template to calculate just how much went uncovered.

For Fifties stars such as Ava Gardner glamour was all the rage.

Researchers for the Odeon survey calculated that about 20% of flesh was on show and it was mostly the cleavage and upper arms.

Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot may have been Sixties sexbombs but the red carpet look was modest and demure, according to researchers.

Screen legends tended to don full length formal gowns, uncovering just 9% on the red carpet.

Stars such as Faye Dunaway and Carrie Fisher covered up in the Seventies, with an average 7% on show, but in the Eighties the figure crept up to 13%.

If trends continue, celebrities will be exposing 75% of their bodies by 2010, according to the researchers.

Odeon Leicester Square general manager Chris Hilton said: "In the 21st century premiere dress is almost unrecognisable from the traditional glamour of the 1950s.

"The formal black tie dress which then dominated the red carpet has gradually been replaced with attire which is much more experimental and often more risque."