Ciara Talks About the ‘Selective Outrage’ Over Her See-Through Dress

On Sunday, March 12, pop star Ciara attended the Vanity Fair Oscars party with her husband Russell Wilson, and she was wearing a gorgeous crosshatched gown by Dundas with a pair of Santoni high-heeled shoes. The dress was made of black sheer material and studded with jewels, hugging to every curve it didn’t reveal.

The sheer look has been quite popular on the red carpet and fashion runways this year, and in fact quite a few people wore similar styles to the event. Alessandra Ambrosio wore another sheer Dundas gown, for example:

Daisy Edgar-Jones was in sheer Gucci:

Emily Ratajkowski wore a sheer white gown by Feben.

Aside from see-through looks, there were some other daring barely there styles, like this two-piece on Hunter Schafer by Ann Demeulemeeste.

And this revealing gold top by Cartier on Zoe Saldana:

Though some of these stunners were applauded for their style, none seemed to cause the controversy Ciara’s dress did. Her name was quickly trending on social media and she seemed to receive a great deal of criticism for flaunting her amazing physique.

On Thursday, the singer responded to the fervor around her dress with a jokey TikTok about the situation. Along to a soundtrack that sounded like paparazzi calling for her attention, she walked an imaginary red carpet while wrapped in a white bed sheet, swirling it around and striking a pose for the “cameras.”

“Selective outrage,” she captioned the funny video.

Her husband seemed to have no issue with how his wife was dressed on the real red carpet, and even went shirtless underneath his black suit for the evening. Not that what Wilson has to say about her style matters as much as Ciara’s own clothing choices — but it’s good to have a husband who is also your biggest fan.

Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.