Willow Smith, no stranger to age-based concern trolling, is finding herself at the center of another controversy. It's due to the photo you see here, which depicts the 14 year-old wearing a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier T-shirt. That features naked breasts. Cue the pearl-clutching and think-piecing!
Smith posted the photo to her Instagram yesterday, but has since deleted it, no doubt due to said pearl-clutchy comments. The pic lives on V Files' Instagram (the tee in question was a part of its Gabriel Held vintage collection) and the popular @willowsmithfan account.
Media outlets are speculating that the pic is meant as a #FreeTheNipple statement, but we're going to go ahead and say that the only statement being made here is, "Hi, I'm 14, and I like to do provocative shit." Sure, it's a little naughty, but that's the point.
And, let's not forget that Smith is drawing on a rich tradition of subversive fashion here. Case in point: Vivienne Westwood's infamous trompe l'oeil T-shirt from the '70s — most notably worn by Siouxsie Sioux when she was young and snotty. You can bet when this author saw that T-shirt at age 15, she wanted one more than most other things in the world.
So, stroll on, Willow. We're not mad about this look. We just hope Jada and Will feel the same way.
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