Billie Eilish reflects on reactions to pin-up shoot for British Vogue: ‘It’s not a new style, it’s one thing I wore’

Singer says: ‘Wear what you want. Dress how you want. Act how you want. Talk how you want. Be how you want. It’s all I’ve ever said’

Billie Eilish has spoken candidly about embracing her identity and the public’s perception of her evolving style, after previously revealing that she lost thousands of followers “because of the boobs”.

The 19-year-old Happier Than Ever singer reflected on her changing style during her fifth annual video interview with Vanity Fair, where she was asked to answer the same questions as years prior.

While answering a question about how she would describe her style now, Eilish took the opportunity to reflect on the reactions to her June 2021 British Vogue cover, which saw her posing in corsets and lingerie for a pin up-style photo shoot.

“I did that Vogue cover and it was a genre that we were doing the shoot for. It was an old kind of Hollywood lingerie kind of classic thing. And it was supposed to be a specific aesthetic for a photo shoot. And then it was like: ‘Billie Eilish’s new style’ and then people kept being like: ‘Wow, her new style, it’s so much better than the old style.’ Or like: ‘Wow, I wish that we could have her old style back, I’m so sad that she’s just changed into this,’” she recalled.

According to Eilish, she thought the response from her fans was “so weird” because she doesn’t believe that the designer outfits she wore for the shoot meant she’d established a “new style”.

“It was so weird because I was like: ‘It’s not a new style, it’s one thing I wore and then I’m gonna wear this another day and then I’m gonna do this,’” Eilish continued. “And literally, the thing that I’ve been preaching about since I first started is, wear what you want, dress how you want, act how you want, talk how you want, be how you want. That’s all I’ve ever said.”

The singer, who recently debuted a new platinum blonde hairstyle after years of green hair and who has been opting for different clothing styles from her former oversized signature look, then went on to acknowledge that her goal has always been to be open to new things and “not letting people ruin it for you”.

Eilish’s comments come after she told Elle in October that, while she acknowledges that fans “hold on to these memories and have an attachment,” their reactions to her changing appearance can be “dehumanising”. At the time, the Grammy winner also revealed that she’d lost “100,000 followers” because of a photo she’d posted to Instagram.

“I lost 100,000 followers, just because of the boobs. People are scared of big boobs,” she said.

As for whether she feels “pressure today” to live up to certain expectations, Eilish told Vanity Fair that she feels less “worried” now than she did in the past because she claims she is less “loved”.

“I feel a lot of pressure but I would also say like, back then, I was more loved. I was pretty, overall, like loved, I would say, to be honest,” the singer said. “And so, I was scared ‘cause I really wanted to keep that love.

“And now, like tons of people hate me, so I’m not worried anymore. I’m like: “Oh, okay, well… if you like me, you like me, if you don’t, you don’t, so…’”