Every day I see so many young women on the social media handles of assorted paparazzi wearing next-to-nothings. There comes another Uorfi, I tell myself, reminding myself of Uorfi Javed who turned herself into a celebrity wearing risque, but DIY clothes. These lovely girls come from all over India hoping to kickstart a career allowing little peekaboos up their skirts or under their shirts. They usually don’t win the fame lottery, but who cares. I am all for women taking up space in any way they deem fit.
Several years ago, I wrote about the now-legendary Malaika Arora Khan (she was still a Khan then), who pranced about Bandra in a sports bra and knickers. She still does, but those days she sold newspapers every time she appeared (and thankfully she appeared daily). “In the good old days, newspapers would print a bikini-clad picture to offer its readers some eye candy. Today, they only have to print Malaika going about her daily routine, and while no one knows what she’s selling, everyone’s buying.” I wrote this in 2017. Today, Arora is a successful television hostess, wellness guru, yoga practitioner and entrepreneur.
Singer and actor Lisa in a sequinned jacket and stockings.
While it may seem attention-seeking at first, and the Festival de Cannes’s no-nudity clause will agree, women wearing their underwear as outerwear have come a long way. They aren’t seeking anything today. They are only celebrating themselves. You don’t like to see women in trousers, or men’s clothing, you won’t. You want to see them in submissive flirty frocks, you won’t. Women and their itsy shorts are reclaiming public spaces. If you feel uncomfortable, you stay at home.
Just take one look at the photos of last week’s Met Gala, the world’s greatest fashion show. Singer Sabrina Carpenter showed up in a tuxedo jacket and stockings. Actor and singer Lisa wore sequinned undies with portraits on it. Actors Cynthia Erivo showed off her undies under a black Givenchy gown, while Taraji P. Henson wore a dress that ended just below her waist. Even new mum Hailey Bieber wore a jacket by Saint Laurent with just black stockings.
In 2022, the legendary Miuccia Prada sent out on the Miu Miu runway a mini skirt so tiny, it barely covered you. The little skirt became so popular it featured on the covers of half-a-dozen fashion magazines, becoming among the greatest fashion moments of our time. “The point is, you can choose what you wear,” Prada stated then. In the following years of the luxury slowdown, just a handful of brands showed an uptick, and among them was the defiant Miu Miu.
Women have worn their underwear in public before— Edie Sedgwick’s mesh stockings and knickers became among the most memorable images of the 1960s; Vivienne Westwood’s clothes have often flashed some too.
But what is this new wave of showing off your inners?
Is it to shock and awe? Perhaps, but naked pictures are such easy access thanks to the internet; they are such a snore now.
Is it to assert feminine/feminist energy? Possibly, here’s an in-your-face reminder that women hold up half the sky. And perhaps a finger in the face of the infamous president who wanted to grab crotches.
On the other hand, there is the small point about women’s strength, too. If one is to take cues from Malaika, then there’s no better showing off a gym-toned silhouette than showing as much of it as you legally can.
X@namratazakaria