The sheer dress has been seen on and off red carpets for months now, sparked by Megan Fox’s VMAs dress and continued with the pink “free the nipple” dress Florence Pugh wore and some gorgeous sheer looks from the likes of Halle Bailey and others. Meanwhile, plus-size model and body positivity role model Ashley Graham has also quietly rocked the heck out of the sheer dress this year, most recently at Cannes.
The model and mom of 3 was spotted at a Prada and Vanity Fair collab on a yacht this summer. For the Cap d’Antibes, France event, she sported a sheer, sparkly dress. Underneath she paired the look with a black bra and underwear and a set of shiny silver heels.
A second look at the dress saw her strutting down the hallway at her hotel after arriving in France. The video gives fans a better look at the glitz and the construction of the see-through Prada dress.
Ashley Graham has been an advocate of body positivity for years now, and this isn’t the first time she’s worn a look that has drawn attention. Back at the tail end of 2022, she wore a backless dress that she later shared on Instagram. Unfortunately, instead of positive comments, the one that blew up on the Internet was one from former Miss New Jersey Sameera Khan, who commented of the look, “The fat positivity movement is getting out of hand.”
In response, Graham shared a photo of her winking with the caption, “Quote tweet this with a photo of you taking ‘fat positivity’ too far. I’ll start.” The post earned plenty of comments, as well as more than 141,000 likes.
Quote tweet this with a photo of you taking ‘fat positivity’ too far. I’ll start. pic.twitter.com/WlmyYr13KhDecember 19, 2022
In the meantime, the model has continued wearing whatever she wants on red carpets. A separate event at a Vanity Fair party in 2023 had her in a sheer red gown, also with underwear underneath; she also wore a semi-sheer black dress to the 2023 Academy Awards in Los Angeles and that one even had cape sleeves! The model certainly knows how to make a statement.
If I’m being transparent (pun intended), I thought sheer would be a quick in and out on red carpets, but it’s proven to have had staying power over the past couple of years, and over the last month we’ve actually seen Dakota Johnson go fifty shades of sheer and Rita Ora do a new take on the look, matching a see-through dress with gloves in the same style. 2023 will doubtless be remembered for its diaphanous fabrics, and I can’t wait to see what other looks are notable as the weather continues to be oh-so-warm in many parts of the country. If Ashley Graham remains consistent, I’m guessing she’ll continue to rock the look in the months to come, as well.
