Let’s talk about THAT Vogue shoot of Billie Eilish
I know I’m late to the party here, but nevertheless, I have so much to say on this topic, not least because I’m a big fan of Billie Eilish.
After watching her documentary on Apple TV (praise be for one year’s free subscription), my respect for Billie only grew. Not only a unique teen singer in terms of her sound, she actively inputs everywhere creatively; from music videos to photoshoots, to how she dresses, to her lyrics, to the exact camera shot she envisioned at an exact moment in time. Billie knows what she wants. And I respect the f*** out of it.
At 19, she pretty much broke the internet when the cover picture of her on the front of Vogue was released earlier this year to promote her new album. Emerging like a phoenix from the ashes of her former oversized T-Shirt wearing self, Billie looked womanly, curvy and downright amazing (not that she didn’t before). Don’t be fooled though, we aren’t about to see her scantily clad on the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame anytime soon. Reinvention may be her forte, but sexualising herself and her body is not the end game. Reinventing herself may mean bearing more skin, but her attitude towards body-shaming remains very much intact. With this in mind, not only is Billie undoubtedly the voice of her slightly mixed up, emotionally fuelled generation, she’s now become the beacon to which body positivity advocates flock to. And rightly so.
Billie made a name for herself as a musician who, in her teens, could have been subject to media scrutiny with regards to her body by her millions of followers, but instead, she chose to hide her body under baggy clothing and outfits that often concealed her face on red carpets and other glamorous events. It’s a real testament to how carefully she has created her public image really - and I don’t mean that in a calculated way at all, I actually think it’s pure genius for a teenager to take away the thing that the media most scrutinise her celebrity peers for. It puts aesthetic judgement in her own hands and on her own terms.
Image sourced from Billie’s Instagram, photographed by Craig McDean.
As Eilish admits in the Vogue interview, “Because of the way that I feel the world sees me, I haven’t felt really desired.” So perhaps this new album, and her consequent reincarnation into a more womanly figure (the shoot was based on old pinup girls), gives her the opportunity to feel desired in a way she hasn’t as a teenager - who can blame her for that? I’ll leave you with another parting comment from the same Vogue interview to really seal that point - that not only is she wise beyond her years, but that she is a normal human woman with a need to feel empowered by her body.
“Suddenly you’re a hypocrite if you want to show your skin, and you’re easy and you’re a slut and you’re a whore. If I am, then I’m proud. Me and all the girls are hoes, and f**k it, y’know? Let’s turn it around and be empowered in that. Showing your body and showing your skin - or not - should not take any respect away from you.”
Amen to that, Billie. Amen.
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Founder of The C Word Magazine, Emily King is currently living in London. She is passionate about art, travel, culture, cinema, fashion, sports, dating, feminism and a whole lot more. She is currently working on her own podcast with a friend and also dabbles in graphic design, when not doing her day job as a project manager. Find her on Instagram @emlrking or chatting on Confession Sessions, The C Word Mag’s podcast.
