Kate Beckinsale has shut down criticism of her choice to wear big bows.
The 50-year-old Underworld actor defended her penchant for big bows on Instagram after receiving an overwhelming amount of critical comments below a carousel of videos showing her wearing the accessory. The videos showed the actor doing everything from making mozzarella to singing karaoke with friends, all while donning a giant black bow on her head.
In the comment section of the carousel shared on 17 June, one person wrote: “Please take that ridiculous bow off.”
The Pearl Harbor actor didn’t hold back when she replied: “As I said before, take that expression off your bitter a** face. Unless you can’t. In which case, condolences.”
Meanwhile, another person criticized: “I am a happy person, and I still think the head dressing is a very poor choice.”
Beckinsale responded: “You can’t be that happy if you have any time or inclination to actually type concerns about what someone you don’t know is wearing or not.”
Someone else noted that the oversized bow made the actor look like “a toddler in a pageant,” to which she retorted: “Lucky old me.”
However, not all the comments were negative, with some people finding Beckinsale’s whimsical sense of style joyful and refreshing. One person loved how the actor was committed to the over-the-top look, writing: “I love that the bows are getting bigger & bigger.”
Others commented on how youthful the actor looked, with many speculating on her secret to looking ageless.
“How she looking so young? No man, no kids, that’s the secret?” someone commented. Beckinsale quipped: “My daughter is 25. I do think living with a man can be quite aging [to be honest].”
This isn’t the first time Beckinsale has addressed the “vicious” comments attacking her appearance. In a since-deleted Instagram post originally posted on 5 May, she shared two clips side by side of her walking the red carpet that she wrote were an estimated “20 years apart.”
The latter clip was taken after a severe flare of mast cell disease. She shared how cruel comments on her appearance have intensified her “severe anxiety” concerning her aging appearance.
“I hate talking about this because I hate adding to this conversation but I’m doing it because insidious bullying of any kind over time takes a toll,” she started the video .“Every time I post anything — and by the way, this has been the case since I was about 30 — I am accused of having had unrecognisable surgery/using Botox using fillers/being obsessed with looking younger and it’s really such a tiresome and subtly vicious way to bully a person.”
She added that while she hasn’t gotten any work done, the public scrutiny of her looks has made her anxiety worse.
“I’m also posting it because whatever someone looks like, accusing them constantly of things they haven’t done, or being obsessed with youth when actually, currently I’m obsessed with surviving loss, is bullying,” she continued. “Please stop now.”
While she noted that her posting the video wouldn’t curb the bullying she faces, she hoped that some would see the errors of their ways and realize that she too is a person with feelings like anyone else.