After defending her “cute little nipples” in an interview last week, Florence Pugh continued her crusade of wearing skin-baring styles on some of fashion’s biggest stages. On Tuesday, the actress hit another red carpet wearing a sheer style that would have many of her naysayers clutching their pearls. But for Pugh, it was par for the course.
Attending the Elle Style Awards in London (where she is being recognized as a “Style Icon”) the actress sported a dramatic halter dress from Alexander McQueen. And while the white color certainly gave things a bridal feel, this certainly wasn’t your grandma’s ordinary gown.
The halter-style piece was designed in a dainty, almost veil-like floral lace. It had a fairly form-fitting feel until just about the knee area, where things then flared out to form a small train.
Pugh, who has made a habit of matching her hair with the rest of her looks, rocked her icy buzzcut in messy spikes. She kept the white theme going with a pair of white sandal heels (hidden beneath her dress) and added rows of pearl earrings to complete the look.
Of course, Pugh is no stranger to the sheer style. She all but invented the transparent craze when she wore a completely sheer gown to Valentino’s fall/winter 2022 show last summer. Her tulle gown caused quite the stir amongst self-proclaimed fashion critics, largely due to her visible nipples.
The actress took to Instagram shortly after to explain her reasoning behind the outfit choice, reiterating that she’s not wearing sheer styles for the attention of men (actually, the exact opposite).
“It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time a woman will hear what’s wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be,” she wrote. “Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying.”
After that moment, Pugh, rather unsurpsingly, didn’t let the slew of hate comments stop her from sporting risky fashion choices. For another Valentino show in July, she donned a pastel frock that was similarly entirely sheer.
“The scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself,” Pugh told Elle. “When everything went down with the Valentino pink dress a year ago, my nipples were on display through a piece of fabric, and it really wound people up. It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy.”
“Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time,” she added. “I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a shit.’”