Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry has vowed to continue "dressing like a gothic Powerpuff Girl with Big Witch Energy" after being criticised for her "revealing" outfits.
The 31-year-old Scottish singer has slammed trolls who accused her of dressing "only for the attention of men" and insisted she wants her "performance image to be inherently feminine and tough as f***".
In a lengthy statement posted on her Instagram Story uploaded from the Notes app on her phone, Lauren wrote: "To the people saying that my gig outfits are too revealing / I shouldn’t dress like that if I don’t want men to comment on it: I disagree.
"This argument assumes women only dress for the attention of men. When I dress for shows, I want to own my gender and my femininity.
"I want my performance image to be inherently feminine and tough as f*** because that is how I want to pretend to be – to myself, and to the women and young girls who come to our gigs.
"I don’t need to pretend to be One Of The Lads because I am not one.
"How I dress is part of how I express myself creatively and how I want to communicate our message.
"It’s about trying not to be ashamed of your own gender and identity, even when people tell you that you should be; about not being scared into hiding yourself because of the actions of others."
The ‘Get Out’ singer also opened up about people trying to "weaponise [her] gender against [her]" and claimed that even when she dressed in casual jeans and baggy shirts, she was till judged because her outfit wasn’t feminine enough.
She continued: "People have tried to weaponise my gender against me since the start of my career as a musician.
"It happens now but it also happened when I was wearing baggy flannel shirts and jeans, because it’s not really about what a woman is wearing. It never is. "It’s about claiming ownership of women’s bodies and women’s narratives."
Lauren vowed to continue dressing however she wants and closed her angry letter by insisting that others will "just have to deal with it".
She concluded: "So I will continue dressing like a gothic Powerpuff Girl with Big Witch Energy and I hope that you’ll all do whatever your version of that is too.
"Everyone else will just have to deal with it. My body, my life, my choice."
Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry hits back at critics of her ‘revealing outfits’
