Over the weekend, new photographs of Lana Del Rey hanging out at the Malibu Chili Cook-Off went viral. Wearing baggy blue jeans and a flannel shirt over a cropped polo tee, she’s carrying a red Chanel handbag; her hair is styled into pigtail braids held by green and gold scrunchies. She looks unbothered. Moisturised. Content. In her lane.
So trust social media to pull the singer’s appearance apart from the moment the images hit the internet. Del Rey looks different at the age of 37 compared to her Born to Die days, when she was in her mid-twenties. This has predictably attracted all manner of nasty fat-shaming comments, despite Del Rey’s size being simply none of our business. Amid the abundance of fatphobia, some also criticised Del Rey’s style in the photographs, describing her clothing as “awful” and that she “couldn’t find a less flattering outfit”. Others came to Del Rey’s defence: “If a stick thin celebrity wore this, ya’ll would eat it up and say they look amazing.”
