There’s an Age to Wear Some Clothes: Wendell Rodricks on Priyanka

PC’s Grammys outfit, a fringed dress with a plunging neckline, has received a lot of attention on social media.

Designer Wendell Rodricks criticised the outfit that Priyanka Chopra wore to the 2020 Grammys.

(Photo Courtesy: Instagram)

Wendell Rodricks has responded to the backlash he faced after his body shaming comments on the outfit that Priyanka Chopra wore to the 2020 Grammys. The designer claimed in an Instagram post that he was “dress shaming” rather than body shaming.

“There is an age to wear some clothes. Men with huge bellies should not wear tight T shirts. Same with women who wear minis past a certain age. If you don’t have it, don’t flaunt it. I stopped wearing Bermudas as I have a few varicose veins. Don’t make every issue body shaming, sexist or whatever,” he wrote.

Priyanka Chopra’s Grammy outfit, a fringed dress with a plunging neckline, received a lot of attention on social media, including from Rodricks who wrote on Instagram, “@priyankachopra nailed it at the Grammys 2020. Truly the bold and beautiful in this @ralphandrusso couture fringed gown where the neckline goes all the way from LA to Cuba.” In a subsequent post, which was later deleted, he clarified that his comment had been sarcastic and that “it’s not for her this Ralph n Russo…”

Actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi wrote a long note calling out Rodricks’ post and questioned whether anyone would have dared make a similar comment about a man’s appearance. “I think the fact that Priyanka is not trying to hide her belly with her clutch is what makes this pic so beautiful. Makes her the rockstar she is. Her confidence an inspiration to every woman. Women have been so enslaven (sic) by men’s opinion of how women should look this photograph of Priyanka to me at the world’s most publicised event is the height of liberation,” she wrote.

“We are not our bodies. We are our abilities. We are our talent. We are our own rock stars. Would anybody have dared comment on a mans belly or appearance like this? God knows we see grotesque images of them everyday and all the time. More power to you #PriyankaChopra. I’m going to flash my flabby baby stretch marks with confidence tomorrow thanks to you. And may every girl and woman in the world grow your confidence too. Bless you.”