When Hollywood actress Sydney Sweeney attended Variety’s Power of Women event on October 30 in Los Angeles, she may have delivered an empowering and inspirational speech, but it was her dazzling, see-through dress that really stole the show.

The floor-length silver design was a collaborative creation by Christian Cowan and Elias Matso. It was made from crystal mesh and structured around a steel-bone corset. The sheerness of the fabric meant her nipples were visible – a detail that stirred a frenzy of media attention across the globe.

Many people have marvelled at the dress, with an X user calling it an “absolute showstopper”. Sweeney’s bold choice to go braless sparked debates on social media around image and empowerment. But there has also been a backlash, criticising her for wearing such a revealing dress at an event that celebrates female advocacy and achievements.

Sweeney wearing the dress as she is recognised at the Variety Power of Women event.

Since 2012, the Free the Nipple movement has campaigned for gender equality for women by highlighting that while men can go topless in public, in many countries women could be arrested for indecent exposure.

Over the years the movement has gained momentum with the intention of showing that it is not just about nudity, but – importantly – about how women present their bodies and are perceived by others.

Critiques of Sweeney’s dress, however, demonstrate that the visible nipple still causes controversy. At the Brit Awards in March 2025, musician Charli XCX’s sheer outfit and visible nipples led to hundreds of complaints to Ofcom. A recent 2025 survey by YouGov, meanwhile, found that only 25% of women thought it was “completely” or “somewhat” acceptable for celebrities to wear garments that displayed their nipples (compared to 45% of men).

In her 1975 seminal work Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema, feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey unpacks the notion of the male gaze, where women are often presented in film as objects of male desire.

The continued disapproval of the visible nipple may suggest, she argues, that it is still considered as a sign of sexual objectification through the male gaze, rather than a personal choice that represents women’s confidence, empowerment and body positivity.

The nipple in fashion history

Fashion’s fascination with exposed breasts has a long and compelling history. During French queen Marie Antionette’s (1755-1793) reign, modest dress was confined to those of the lower classes. At the Court of Versailles, the décolleté (plunging neckline) was the height of fashion for women, and a mark of social standing.

Painting of Marie Antoinette with a rose
Marie Antoinette à la Rose by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun (1783). Wiki Commons

Marie Antoinette, a great advocate of style, was known to have a penchant for revealing fashion, and she was not alone. Émilie du Châtelet (1706-1749), a philosopher, mathematician and Voltaire’s mistress, was known for plunging necklines and exposed nipples which she would rouge to accentuate their appearance. Pauline Bonaparte, Napoleon’s sister, often did the same.

The fashion for breasts at the French Court could perhaps be traced as far back as the mistress of Charles VII (1403-1461), Agnès Sorel, who would purportedly leave her bodice unlaced and her breasts exposed.

Fast forward to the 20th century and countless celebrities from Marilyn Monroe to Jane Birkin have worn sheer clothing that displayed their breasts and nipples. Monroe famously wore a sheer dress when she sang Happy Birthday to US President John F. Kennedy in 1962. The dress from an original sketch by US designer Bob Mackie was so tight that Monroe was reportedly sewn into it, and chose to wear nothing underneath.

There are few better showcases for the fashion of the 2000s than Sex and the City (1998-2004). Set in New York City, it followed the lives of four women as they negotiated work, life, friendship and love, all while wearing the most fabulous clothes. Across episodes the series had a profound impact on fashion, launching designers and creating trends.

Samantha Jones’s faux nipples in Sex and the City.

In an episode aired in 2001, one of the female protagonists, Samantha Jones (played by Kim Cattrall), wore a pair of fake stick-on nipples under a blue vest top, for a date. Proclaiming them all the rage to her friends with the line, “nipples are huge right now”, she found herself a man, and quickly removed them and flung them across the room when he wasn’t looking.

For Jones, visible nipples were clearly an example of sexualisation as empowerment. Perhaps this moment was a precursor to Kim Kardashian’s lingerie label SKIMS releasing a nipple bra. In stark contrast, other Sex and the City cast members have revealed that they were afraid to show their real nipples on the show in case they were shunned by the film world.

From shock, to disapproval and on occasion admiration, debates about the appropriateness of visible nipples for women drone on. I for one respect celebrities like Sweeney for making a stand against societal expectations over the presentation of women’s bodies.

Freedom of self-expression is after all a manifestation of empowerment and bodily confidence. Long live the freed nipple.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Naomi Braithwaite, Nottingham Trent University

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Naomi Braithwaite does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.