Florence Pugh has not forgotten about the comments made about her body when she wore a sheer Valentino pink dress at the luxury brand’s fashion show in Rome during the summer of 2022.
In a feature with Elle magazine, the actress recalled how people reacted to her bearing her breasts beneath transparent tulle fabric, commenting more broadly on the culture that those reactions reflect.
“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,” she said. “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. I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a shit.’ 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].”
The “Don’t Worry Darling” star was just as adamant about her freedom to wear whatever she wanted a year ago, reacting with the hashtag #f–kingfreethef–kingnipple in a lengthy Instagram statement after she received “vulgar” and “loudly abusive” insults.
“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. “I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself.”
The “Oppenheimer” actress, whose upcoming films on pause due to the strike include Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” and “Dune 2,” also recently shaved her head in a self-proclaimed shedding of vanity, which she shared with People. She debuted her new look at her first Met Gala in May, another big fashion stride for her following the Valentino moment as well as her becoming a Tiffany ambassador.
“Some of my proudest moments of embracing my body have been in Pierpaolo [Piccioli’s] gowns,” she said in the Elle feature. “Every single time I step out in Valentino, it’s like my armour.”