Billie Eilish is embracing her power.
The “Bad Guy” singer, who recently turned 21, stars on Vogue’s first-ever video cover and spoke to the magazine about her struggles with her relationship with her body.
“Going through my teenage years of hating myself and all that stupid s—t, a lot of it came from my anger toward my body, and how mad I was at how much pain it’s caused me, and how much I’ve lost because of things that happened to it,” Eilish said, referencing a hip injury that kept her from pursuing a dance career.
“I felt like my body was gaslighting me for years,” the Grammy winner continued.
“I had to go through a process of being like, My body is actually me. And it’s not out to get me.”
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The “Ocean Eyes” songstress, who’s said her signature baggy outfits are her armor against body-shaming, tested her limits at the 2021 Met Gala by wearing a waist-cinching nude tulle Oscar de la Renta gown for her debut appearance at the starry event.
“What was most inspiring to me from the creative side was to see this 19-year-old powerhouse look us in the eye and say, ‘I want to do something that scares me,’” designer Laura Kim, one of the fashion house’s creative directors, told Vogue.
Later that year, Eilish told the glossy she actually used to prefer more feminine silhouettes.
“Big dresses were my favorite thing when I was a kid,” she said. “I had so many dresses; I would wear a dress every single day. It’s really body image that tore that s—t down. Why do you think I’ve been dressing the way I have for years?”
Fortunately, her daring 2021 Met outing wasn’t a one-off; this past year, Eilish hit the red carpet wearing another corseted style, this time an upcycled design by Gucci with sheer lace sleeves and a bustle worthy of the night’s “Gilded Glamour” theme.
