A year after turning heads and sparking conversation in a sheer Valentino dress that exposed her nipples, Florence Pugh still doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her body.
The “Oppenheimer” and “Don’t Worry Darling” actor explained in a new interview why she chooses to be so vocal about her body and to wear clothes that show it off. She previously expressed similar sentiments after haters shamed her online for wearing an elegant, nipple-bearing pink dress to the 2022 Valentino Haute Couture fashion show in Rome.
“I speak the way I do about my body because I’m not trying to hide the cellulite on my thigh or the squidge in between my arm and my boob: I would much rather lay it all out,” Pugh told Elle in an interview published Tuesday.
“I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself. 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.”
In July 2022, Pugh proudly posted photos of herself modeling the frilly Valentino gown and declared that she didn’t experience a “wink” of anxiety about wearing it — despite knowing that it would inevitably beget scrutiny online.
At the time, she shamed the body-shamers for being “loudly abusive toward women in public” with such ease while urging them to “grow up” and “respect humans.” The Oscar-nominated “Little Women” performer has also been intentional in the past about shutting down gossip and criticism surrounding her love life.
“It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy,” the “Midsommar” star told Elle.
“Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time. I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a s—.’ Unfortunately, we’ve become so terrified of the human body that we can’t even look at my two little cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn’t sexual. We need to keep reminding everybody that there is more than one reason for women’s bodies [to exist].”
