Lady Gaga's 'meat dress' on display at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Exhibitions chief preparetor Andre Septavec, kneeling, and director of exhibitions Shelby Morrison, in gloves, join others in putting the famous meat dress and boots, worn on stage by Lady Gaga during her acceptance for Best Video of the Year for 'Bad Romance' at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on display in an exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. The dress and boots, which had turned brown from the chemical preservation process, have been painted to return them to their original color.

CLEVELAND — Lady Gaga made history at last year's MTV Video Music Awards when she turned butcher's cuts into high fashion.

On Thursday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland unveiled the singer's raw-meat dress to the public. The dress — made of layers of Argentinian beef — was kept in a meat locker, placed in a vat of chemicals and then dried out by taxidermists in California before being transported to the museum.

Hall of Fame spokeswoman Margaret Thresher says the dress took on a "dark, beef-jerky" look while dehydrating, so it was painted to look "fresh" afterward. The entire process took several months to complete.

The dress is being displayed as part of the "Women Who Rock: Vision, Passion, Power" exhibit, which runs until February 2012